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No, the amount you paid for your book to be published becomes inventory since you still have books you can sell. You can deduct the amount that each book cost that you sold, but the remaining amount you paid for books you still have cannot be deducted until you sell the books.
For example Beginning Inventory $0 plus Purchases $15,000 minus Ending Inventory $13,000 equals Cost of Goods Sold $2,000.
The Cost of Goods Sold is the only amount you can deduct.
OK thanks
actually, this book is print on demand, so there is no inventory, no stack of my books in a warehouse somewhere; have sold three books in 2020, and do not expect to sell anymore; surely, I can write off expenses at a faster pace ?
If there is no inventory of books, then the $15,000 sounds like it is a business expense. This assumes that the 15K fee is not an advance payment to the publisher and that the self-publishing of the book is a business venture.
If the 15K is an expense you paid to publish the book, and the publishing of the book is a business venture, you can take it on your Schedule C against the income you earned. You will have a loss for 2019.
To enter the Self Employment information into TurboTax:
The IRS does differentiate between a business and a hobby. Unfortunately, there is not a bright-line test for the difference. The IRS uses nine factors to make the determination:
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