I can see this potentially confusing some readers later down the line. So to clarify, startup expenses are those expenses incurred before the business is officially "open for business". For startup expenses, it does not matter in what year they are incurred. I've seen and heard of cases where it took years to get the business to the point of being "open". In such cases, one can have 2-3 years (or more) of startup expenses. IN such a case, make absolutely certain you keep all receipts and document everything. Sometimes, just having a receipt is not enough. You must be able to prove the expense was necessary *and* was incurred with the specific intent of starting a business.
