My wife started a dog breeding business so how do we show our expenses and money lost?

[rmcm6]

The dog required regular vet checks as well as an emergency room visit to an animal hospital. That expense was over $1300.00 there was also the required vaccinations and feeding expenses for 9 weeks that the remaining puppies stayed with us. Total loss in this whole experience was about $2000.00. Would it be worth the time and added expense to file and claim this loss and if it is worth the time how do we do that?

[PatriciaV]

Unfortunately, the IRS generally views dog breeding as a hobby and not a business. You may only deduct hobby expenses equal to hobby income. You cannot take a loss on a hobby.

To enter this in TurboTax, search on "hobby income, loss" and click the jump-to link to go to the start of that section.

If you believe that you are in this business with a profit motive, you may report the income and expenses on Schedule C, available in TurboTax Self-Employed

See these two articles for more on how the IRS determines if your activity is a hobby or a business:

• When the IRS Classifies Your Business as a Hobby
• Is Your Hobby a For-Profit Endeavor?