Determining Worthlessness Takes Care.

The petitioner's S corporation claimed a net operating loss (NOL) as a result of writing down real estate holdings due to the collapse of the real estate market.  The petitioner claimed that the properties had been abandoned in that same year or had become worthless.  The IRS disallowed the NOL and the court agreed.  The petitioner never abandoned the properties and a loss on account of worthlessness of property that is mortgaged, the court noted, means worthless of the petitioner's equity in accordance with I.R.C. Sec. 165.  The court noted that, with respect to recourse debt, the petitioner could not claim any loss deduction until the year in which a foreclosure sale occurs.  Thus, the petitioner was not entitled to any deduction until some point in the future.  Tucker v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2015-185.