Can I deduct business expenses from my individual taxes?

[taxpayer122757]

I am a school teacher who wrote a musical to market.  I spent 20K  recording the songs.  I made no money.  Can I deduct this from my individual return?

[MinhT1]

You cannot directly these expenses from your income.

If you wrote the musical outside of your teaching job with the intent to make a profit, then it is a business.

As a business, you can deduct expenses even if at the beginning you had no business income.

You report your business income and expenses on Schedule C. Your business loss will offset your income as a teacher and reduce your tax bill. 

Please read this TurboTax article for more information.