If I have a side job but did not make any income last year, can I still enter business expenses?

[Carl]

Was your business "open for business" last year? Would also help if I knew what kind of business this is/was so I don't waste your time with non relevant information.

[jimmy-dyer09]

Yes, I am a Graphic Designer. I work full-time with a company so I already have a W2 but I also freelance on the side. Last year was the first year that I didn't make any income from my freelance business. Can I still deduct business expense from this if I didn't make any income?

[Carl]

Yes. You'll file your SCH C as you have in the past. Note that obviously your business expenses claimed will exceed the business income. So the excess while claimed, may not be "allowed" is all. But that's not a problem Once business expenses get your taxable business income to zero, the excess is just carried over to the next year. But if you don't "claim" those expenses on the 2017 return, then you can not carry them over to the 2018 return.  So the fact that your business income may be zero for the year, and your business expenses may be a positive number, really doesn't matter. Just don't expect your business expenses to have any affect on your refund or tax liability from your W-2 income. (But it could. It just depends on your situation. Just work it through the program as you normally have in years past.)