It depends on whether the money was a down payment, or whether it was money spent in another way that was not refunded. If you're buying business property and you forfeit your earnest deposit, you can write that off as a capital loss, provided the property is all business. This would be a capital loss entered on Schedule D, not Schedule C.
More clarification would be helpful to give specific guidance. You would need documentation to prove there was a business intent, and then the details of what the $15,000 was used for. Determine the amount of business versus personal expense.
Examples would be market research or location advantage, etc. The terminology will depend again on what you paid for and whether there was a written contingency about whether you would be refunded if the sale did not go through.
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