If you investigate the possibility of creating or starting a business, you might be able to deduct your startup costs.Startup costs include the cost of:• Travel• Marketing reports• Legal and accounting services• Engineering and architectural surveysThe deductibility of startup costs depends on two factors:• Whether you’re currently in a business that is the same or similar to the type of business you’re thinking of starting or acquiring• Whether you actually end up starting or acquiring the new businessLet’s say you’re in the restaurant business. If you fly to Chicago to investigate the possibility of opening a restaurant there, the cost of your flight and any other startup costs are deductible whether or not you end up starting a restaurant in Chicago. This is because you were thinking of expanding your current business (the restaurant business).But let’s say you flew to Chicago to investigate the possibility of opening a dog kennel. Because you’re currently in the restaurant business, the tax implications are different. If you decide not to start a dog kennel, then your costs of flying to Chicago are not deductible. But if you do start a dog kennel, then the cost of your flight and any other startup costs are deductible as follows:• You can immediately deduct up to $5,000 of your startup costs (this is reduced dollar-for-dollar by the amount that your total startup costs exceed $50,000)• Any startup costs not immediately deducted are expensed over 180 months, beginning with the month in which the business beginsThus, if you start the dog kennel and incur $10,400 of startup costs, you can deduct $5,000 of startup costs and deduct the remaining $5,400 over 180 months (which would be $30/month).— Edspira is the creation of Michael McLaughlin, an award-winning professor who went from teenage homelessness to a PhD. Edspira’s mission is to make a high-quality business education accessible to all people.— SUBSCRIBE FOR A FREE 53-PAGE GUIDE TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PLUS: • A 23-PAGE GUIDE TO MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTING• A 44-PAGE GUIDE TO U.S. TAXATION• A 75-PAGE GUIDE TO FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS• MANY MORE FREE PDF GUIDES* http://eepurl.com/dIaa5z— HIRE MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN, PHD, CPA * https://michaelmclaughlin.com/hire-me — GET CERTIFIED IN FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS, IFRS 16, AND ASSET-LIABILITY MANAGEMENT * https://edspira.thinkific.com — LISTEN TO THE SCHEME PODCAST * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scheme/id1522352725 * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4WaNTqVFxISHlgcSWNT1kc * Website: https://www.edspira.com/podcast-2/ — GET TAX TIPS ON TIKTOK * https://www.tiktok.com/@prof_mclaughlin — ACCESS INDEX OF VIDEOS * https://www.edspira.com/index — CONNECT WITH EDSPIRA * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Edspira * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edspiradotcom * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edspira — CONNECT WITH MICHAEL * Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Prof_McLaughlin * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-michael-mclaughlin — ABOUT EDSPIRA AND ITS CREATOR * https://www.edspira.com/about/