Don't know why I can't figure this out. Help me out.

If its a tax write off, you might have to also figure out that portion of it. So he may not be out anything at all. Not only that, but why would he assume that the person spending the $100 is the thief?
So, if he claims the $100 as stolen, then someone comes in and buys $70 worth of whatever and the change for $30...well I guess this would open up a lot of places to fraud, but he might end up in the positive.

-$100
Claim $100
=0
Sold $70 - +$35
-$30.
So maybe he gained $5.

InTenSity wrote:If its a tax write off, you might have to also figure out that portion of it. So he may not be out anything at all. Not only that, but why would he assume that the person spending the $100 is the thief?
So, if he claims the $100 as stolen, then someone comes in and buys $70 worth of whatever and the change for $30...well I guess this would open up a lot of places to fraud, but he might end up in the positive.

-$100
Claim $100
=0
Sold $70 - +$35
-$30.
So maybe he gained $5.

Inventory discrepancies can be written off via shrinkage but you generally need an established trend in order to do so. In this case no inventory was stolen, just cash.

Cash theft losses are basically impossible to write off without a police report or some form of evidence. If you had video of the guy stealing the $100 and filed a police report, yea you could write it off.

InTenSity wrote:If its a tax write off, you might have to also figure out that portion of it. So he may not be out anything at all. Not only that, but why would he assume that the person spending the $100 is the thief?
So, if he claims the $100 as stolen, then someone comes in and buys $70 worth of whatever and the change for $30...well I guess this would open up a lot of places to fraud, but he might end up in the positive.

-$100
Claim $100
=0
Sold $70 - +$35
-$30.
So maybe he gained $5.

This is a good point, though $100 would fall below his insurance deductible, so no claim there.

His net book loss is $100 minus his marginal tax rate on $100.
His net actual loss is $30 + COGS - ($100 minus his marginal tax rate on $100).

Surprised he didn't just rob the place. Then he could buy groceries from the store for like a year.