California: New Business, No Income, but expenses

[KevinMC20]

I started business as a content creator. I started in December 2023. I have not generated income yet, but I am intending to generate income and profit. I have business expenses solely for content creation such as a computer, camera, and monitors. I have scripts prepared for upcoming videos. I released three videos in the 3 weeks of operation in December. I have reached out to a few tech companies for product endorsements to contribute to the content. Am I able to claim the business expenses?

[RobertB4444]

Yes.  Save all of your receipts for the December 2023 expenses and bundle them together.  When you are doing your 2024 taxes you will enter an expense called "Start-Up Expenses" which can be amortized over the first 15 years of the business.

@KevinMC20 

[AmeliesUncle]

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@KevinMC20 wrote:

I released three videos in the 3 weeks of operation in December. I have reached out to a few tech companies for product endorsements to contribute to the content. 

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If you were attempting to receive income in 2023 and could have actually receive income in 2023, you enter the expenses on your 2023 tax return. 

Items more than $200 each and expected to last more than one year are often "assets" for depreciation (the cost may be spread out over several years).  However, there some some elections that may allow those to be entired deducted in one year.  For example, in some cases making the "De Minimis election" could allow you to increase that $200 threshold up to $2500.

After entering your "assets" that need to be depreciated, generally other expenses from BEFORE you were 'open' (attempted/able to receive income) are entered as Startup Expenses, and expenses AFTER you were 'open' are other expenses (such as "supplies" or whatever else).