It’s a Steal: Actual Taking Needed to Claim Theft Loss Deduction

I learned what theft was when I was about 4 years old. For a short while, we lived in a brick house with a patio, one of many similarly styled ranchers in the neighborhood. One day, my mom called my brothers and me to lunch. When we returned, our toys had gone missing from the patio. Later that day, we saw the neighbor’s kids playing with them. My mom went to talk to the neighbor, who swore the toys belonged to her kids. What was certain at that moment: We were never getting those toys back.

As simplistic as that ...