In my new consulting business (post retirement), I had expenses but no income. Can I deduct the expenses?

[MichaelL1 · Accepted solution]

If the business was actually operating to make a profit then yes, you can have expenses with no income.

If the business was starting up and not yet operating, these would be start up expenses and deducted in year the business started.

So determine if it was open for business and if it was then deduct them.  Just make sure business starts showing income in 2nd year and is operating to make money as IRS looks closer at companies with losses.  However new businesses usually start this way, so make sure you keep good records with your tax file.