There's nothing shady about claiming a legitimate business loss. You do have to keep in mind that, in order to claim it as a business for self-employment, the IRS expects you to show a profit in 3 of the past 5 years or they may declare the activity as a hobby, limiting any expenses to income. You can no longer deduct personal moving expenses unless you're in the military, but you could deduct the portion of moving expense related to your business as a business expense.
