I spent money setting up a non-profit organization. Can I enter those as deductible expenses?

[Vanessa A]

If you are itemizing your return and the organization became a qualified charitable organization, you can claim the money you spent as a donation going back to the date that the exempt form was filed.  Any money spent prior to that is not deductible as an itemized expense.  If you are not itemizing your return, then you would not be able to take any type of deduction for the money you spent. 

Standard versus Itemized Deduction