Thank you for the extra input. For the sake of the question, please consider the food blog a legitimate business based on the IRS definition.
What I meant to ask with the question is more specific: grocery is needed in order to run what could be considered the core business of a food blogger. Each food blogger does different things and focuses on different areas. For example, consider the following as core business: I need to take pictures of dishes and showcase recipes, but I cannot do that if I don't prepare the dish. I can't prepare the dish if I don't have the ingredients to make it.
Let me give another example for a different industry which I think is analogous: think about a painter who needs paint to make paintings. He doesn't sell his paintings, but just showcases them in a gallery and asks customers to pay a ticket to enter the gallery. Based on the TurboTax definition he cannot classify the paint under "Inventory", because that category requires to "Only enter the amounts paid for products held for sale" and the painter does not sell his paintings.
In the same way, a food blogger might prepare recipes, for which he or she needs raw materials (ingredients), but the final output is an article online that people can read, article which the food blogger intends to monetize.
Based on the above, how would these "raw materials" or "ingredients" be classified using TurboTax categories? Would these expenses (ingredients/groceries for the food blogger or paint for the painter) fall under either "Supplies" or "miscellaneous expenses"?
Thank you!
