I bought out a business to add to mine. It's internet hosting. Where should I enter this on my taxes. Can I simply depreciate the cost over a number of years?

[richard10]

I bought a business for < $10,000 to add to mine. It's for internet hosting, so basically a number of customers now pay me for hosting their websites and I have a couple of other servers I rent to make that happen. I paid the remaining loan amount that the old owners had directly to the loan company.

Is there a special form I have to fill out to take a deduction, or can I just make the acquisition a regular cost that is depreciated over a number of years?

[IsabellaG · Accepted solution]

You would be able to amortize the cost of purchasing the business. 

• Enter this under Assets/Depreciation, and on the screen Describe this Asset, check Intangibles, Other Property. See the screenshot. 
• On Tell Us a Little More, choose Amortizable Intangibles
  
• When you get to the screen Select a Code Section, choose 197. (See this link, and search for Section 197 Intangibles Defined.)

Your amortization will be computed.

[jfitz3495]

Over what period of time would I have to amortize "insurance in force"

[Critter-3]

It is automatically a 15 year amortization.