There was never going to be a 5498 because although Quest IRA is a legitimate company, the scammer never involved them expect to borrow the name long enough to convince my client to endorse a check over with their name on it. It was deposited into the scammer's account with the bogus company that did not exist. It is hard for me to believe IRS would have this woman pay tax on money that was never invested and that she never received. I can see the requirement for her to make restorative payments if there is any recovery.  The legal fees were incurred in 2017. The revenue rulings addressed in your second link apply to non qualified losses or losses for which there is a basis. I will contact IRS and get information and if necessary go to our Tax Payor Advocate locally in Fresno. Maybe she can file a protest. A lot of these rip off Ponzi Schemes are happening in qualified plan withdrawals.  The legal fees were not incurred until 2018. It is odd that there is no PLR.