How do I deduct license fees if I had no income from a business I've been actively working for? Do I enter $0 for the 1099 info or create a new self employment business?

[havanajj]

I usually have income from this 1099 but don't this year. I was required to pay for the license this year. Not sure if I enter last years 1099 info/ein or create my own business since there is no 1099

[PatriciaV · Accepted solution]

Yes, if you reported this business on a prior year return, you can report expenses for that business even if you had no income.

If TurboTax carried over the 1099-MISC info from last year and you have no income this year, simply delete that 1099 from the income summary page.

[havanajj]

It won't report the business since there is no income. It only shows as the industry description. So it will just show as $0 income with a negative for the deduction? This makes my audit level higher than usual :(

[PatriciaV]

Not necessarily. The chance of audit is extremely low. It's better to report a small business loss than to skip a year reporting the business.

[havanajj]

thanks