Let's start by saving you some money this year. You do not need TurboTax Self-Employed for your 2018 tax year. Next year, you will need either TurboTax Self-Employed or Home & Business (download for Windows or Mac) if your business is either a sole proprietorship or a single-member LLC that is a disregarded entity for tax purposes, that is, filing on Schedule C. If your business is organized in any other way -- C Corp, S Corp, partnership. multi-member LLC -- you will need TurboTax Business, a Windows-only CD/download product, to complete the correct tax returns.
That said, you have nothing to report for 2018. You can claim your
business expenses, but not on your 2018 tax return. The general rule is that
business startup expenses are deductible in the year when active trade or
business begins. Since you had no income-generating events in 2018, your
startup expenses will become deductible in 2019, when your new business begins
to generate revenue. Please see IRS Pub. 535 Business Expenses for
more information.
Also, you must
distinguish between startup expenses
(licenses, permits, legal fees, pre-opening advertising, etc.) and the amount
spent on business assets (machines,
equipment, vehicles, etc.). These assets are depreciable over their useful
life, although in many cases can be expensed in the first year put in service
under Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Note:
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 increased the annual dollar limit on Section
179 deductions. For tax years beginning
in 2018, the maximum section 179 expense deduction is $1,000,000. This limit is
reduced by the amount by which the cost of section 179 property placed in
service during the tax year exceeds $2,500,000.
