If your business was open in 2018 and you filed a SCH C with your 2018 tax return, understand that for 2019 the IRS does not consider your business as sold, closed, or disposed of in any other way if any ONE of the following are true:
- Your business reports inventory and had an inventory balance greater than $0 at the end of the tax year.
- Your business has assets listed in the Business Assets section and you did not show the IRS your disposition of those assets.
- Your business claimed any vehicle use (even if less than 100% business use) and you did not show the disposition of that vehicle.
No business this year – closed or sold last year
Most likely when you started this year's tax return, you did indicate that you do NOT have business income/expenses to report. But the business stuff was still imported anyway from the previous year's return. This will happen if you did not completely and correctly report your disposition of this business on the previous year's return. You can always go back and edit last year's return using the guidance below. But if your business is not that complex, you can just report it's "final" disposition with a date of 1/1/2017
Otherwise, with the online version of the program, you must have your return open so that you can edit it. Then click My Account in the upper right and select the clear and start over option. A few screens later you can select the flavor of TurboTax you desire to start with.
However, if you did not *completely* report you business disposition on the prior year's tax return. then as far as the IRS is concerned, you are still in business. To completely report your business as being no longer, you must do all of the following:
At the beginning of the business section one of the screens has a selection on it for "I sold or otherwise disposed of this business in [tax year]. You must select that option and press on "as if" you still own the business.
WHen you get to the business summary screen, you have to work through income and expenses, even if those amounts are all zeros.
Next, you must work through the Business Assets section, and if any assets are listed there you must show your disposition of each and every asset one at a time. Start working through the first asset and on the screen that ask, indicate that YES you DID STOP USING this asset in [tax year]. Then continue working the asset through to report it's disposition - be it sold, removed for personal use, given away, stolen, destroyed, whatever.
Note that you must show your disposition for each and every asset listed, individually.
After you're finished with all the assets, if your business claimed ANY vehicle use at ANY time you were in business, then you will need to work through the business vehicle section to show the disposition of the vehicle - even if that vehicle was a personal vehicle not used 100% for the business. Most likely, your disposition of the vehicle would be "removed for personal use", beucase while not unheard of, it's rare that the sale of a business reported on SCH C would include the vehicle in that sale too.
Finally, if your business carrys inventory and you still have unsold inventory, then you must make your EOY inventory balance $0. To do that, on the COGS screen simply indicate that all remaining inventory was “removed from the business for personal use” and this will make your EOY Inventory balance $0.
Once you've completed all the above, just work it through to the end, and this will be the last year you file a SCH C for this specific business that you no longer have.
