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11 Most Overlooked Tax Deductions

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What Are Start-up Costs?

Start-up costs are costs incurred in investigating the acquisition or creation of an active business, and setting up an active business.

Qualifying Start-up Costs

Qualifying start-up costs are costs you pay or incur before the day your active trade or business begins.

They are the same types of costs you could deduct if you paid or incurred them while operating an existing, ongoing business.

Two Categories of Start-up Costs

Start-up costs can generally be divided into two categories:

  1. Investigatory Costs
  2. Preopening Costs

Investigatory Costs:

These costs relate to your decision whether to start or purchase a business and which particular business to start or purchase.

Examples include:

Preopening Costs:

These are costs incurred after you have made the decision to take the plunge and decided on a particular business, but before your business actually begins.

Examples include:

Start-up costs do not include:

Start-up Costs versus Organizational Costs

Start-up costs are costs incurred in investigating the acquisition or creation of an active business (investigatory costs), and setting up an active business (pre-opening costs).

Organizational costs only apply to the creation of a corporation or partnership, such as accounting and legal fees.

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Start-up Costs: Purchasing an Active Trade or Business

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