Self-employed retail business question. Can inventory be written off as an expense? We spent 13000 on inventory and had sales of approximately 9800. Profit?

[AnnetteB6]

Inventory purchases are not written off directly as an expense for your business.  There is a separate section in the Schedule C entries to account for inventory.  

As you go through the Schedule C, look for Inventory/Cost of Goods Sold to enter the details about your inventory.  This will include the beginning of the year inventory value, purchased you made during the year, and the year-end inventory.  These entries will reconcile whether there was a profit or loss based on your inventory.