Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Casualty

A serious or fatal accident. A person or thing injured, lost, or destroyed. A disastrous occurrence due to sudden, unexpected, or unusual cause. Accident; misfortune or mishap; that which comes by chance or without design. A loss from such an event or cause, as by fire, shipwreck, lightning, etc.

An inevitable casualty is one that occurs through no fault of anyone. It happens totally without design, as in the case of an accident resulting from an act of God, such as a house struck by lightning or flooded by a storm.

A casualty loss is a tax deduction that can be taken for an accident that is incurred in a trade or business, in a transaction entered into for profit, or for the complete or partial loss or destruction of property owned by the taxpayer. It arises from certain specific events such as a fire, an auto accident, or a flood. Casualty losses are computed subject to special rules and are treated as itemized...