Disposing of the business can mean selling it or just abandoning the business activity. Since you are unclear if this Schedule C will report business activity next year or not, just leave it and report no income or expenses for 2022. If the new business is in the same industry and has no start-up costs to amortize, you can use the same Schedule C next year. If you need to create a new Schedule C next year, then you can dispose of the business on the old Schedule C then.
Oftentimes, closing out a business doesn't require any extra steps other than indicating the business ceased activity during the year - but sometimes, there are extra steps that need to be taken - if you have assets on the books or employees, for example. See Closing a Business.
You can "dispose" of a business in any of the following ways:
- Sale
- Exchange
- Retirement
- Abandonment
- Destruction
- Death
On the screen that asks if you started or disposed of your business in 2022, select Neither of these apply. There is a link above referencing start-up costs which may apply to your situation. From that link ''Timing matters, too. “Startup costs are only deductible if your business does indeed start up,” says Capelli. “And they have to be incurred during the planning and development phase of your business. Otherwise, after that, they become operating expenses.” The flip side to this is that even though your business isn’t operational yet when you incur startup expenses, you can deduct them or begin to deduct them in your first year of business.''
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