businnes/personal monatary loss

[drtasch]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Va.
When I sold my business in 2001, I was pushed to take a personal loan from buyer for $10,000, which was to be paid back within 5 months. Long story short. The man has been to court numerous times over the years, to claim bankruptcy. He would win & I would manage to get my loan pulled out each time, but received no money. My lawyer retired & case was given to a " should have been retired" lawyer. He did nothing. Man went back to court 2 more times & in 2007, the last time, he obtained his bankruptcy, mine was included.
My question is, after all this time, can I claim a loss on my 2007 +/- years taxes? I am 72 now & could sure use any money I can acquire.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? va

[efflandt]

If the business included property or assets, why did you not have some collateral (or lien) for the loan?

Bad debts are deductible, see [url=http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc453.html]Tax Topics - Topic 453 Bad Debt Deduction[/url] (you will have to copy and paste the http string because links are disabled here).