Corporation Start Date

[sabrinaq]

I am filing the first tax return for a new corporation.  I'm trying to enter start-up costs, but I get an error message saying that the costs occurred after the start date of "0".  Where do I actually enter the start date?  How do I determine the start date?

[PatriciaV]

To enter the date you incorporated, go to Business Info >> About Your Business.

Scroll to the middle of the page and click Edit beside "Date you incorporated." You can enter or update the date in the box. If you're not certain of the date, check your Certificate of Incorporation. Continue back to the info page to save your entries.

Be sure you have entered a date AFTER the incorporation date for your start-up expenses, even if they were incurred at an earlier date.

[sabrinaq]

Sorry, but this is not my question.  I know how to enter my incorporation date.  I am asking about start date - the date before which expenses can be counted as start-up costs.  I believe this is distinct from date of incorporation.

http://www.calcpa.org/public-resources/ask-a-cpa/small-business-accounting-and-operations/general/wh...

I'm trying to enter start-up costs, and I'm getting an error that they incurred after the start date.  It isn't using the date of incorporation I entered. Instead it is saying my start date is "0".  My incorporation date has been added, and I can see it in the system. 

[BMcCalpin]

I do not have the 1120 software installed, but another tax professional sent me a screen shot of the screen in which you enter the start of business date (below). This screen is apparently 2 or 3 screens beyond the screen to enter the date of incorporation.

You are correct that the date of incorporation is not necessarily the start of business date; see the IRS discussion on this issue at §1.248-1 Election to amortize organizational expenditures paragraph (d) at IRS T.D. 9542.

[sabrinaq]

Thank you.  Unfortunately, my screens don't match yours.  I wish they did!!!  Clicking through from the beginning of business info, that screen never appears.  Also, I do not have the tab for Shareholder Info.  Just for clarification, I'm using the downloaded version of TurboTax Business 2017.  

The other quirky thing that may be related to this problem is that there is no way to indicate that this is the first tax return filed for the corporation.  I asks my questions about changes since the last tax return and importing data from the last tax return.  I've been just checking "no" for changes, etc., but I wonder if I can indicate that this is the first return.  Perhaps if I could indicate that it would let me enter a business start date.  Any insight into this?

[BMcCalpin]

Well, that is how the Schedule C on the 1040 works - it asks if your business started in 2017, and eventually it asks the question of when you started the trade or business...however, that is surely a different software code base, so that may or may not be how they designed the 1120 interview.

However, I note that it asks you this question (did your business start in 2017) only once...once you have set up the initial business info, it never shows it again. I had to "Add a(nother) Business" to get this question to appear.

I don't know how far along you are in the data entry; would it be reasonable to clear and start over or have you entered too much into the system?