While for many situations one can expense inventory as "supplies", thus allowing the deduction of the cost in the first year, this has the potential to be problematic when the business closes. It "just depends" on to many factors to cover here.
Generally speaking, when starting a new business that has inventory, or in the first year an existing business acquires inventory, the BOY (Beginning of Year) inventory balance must be ZERO. It flat out does not matter when that inventory was originally purchased - even if purchased years before the business even existed. There are reasons for this, and it has to do with the way the cost of inventory is deducted.
What you paid for inventory is not deductible until the tax year you actually sell that inventory. It flat out doesn't matter in what tax year it was purchased either. This is dealt with in the "Cost of Goods Sold" section where you enter what "you" paid for the inventory that you actually sold in the tax year.
