How do I amoritize the cost of a purchased domain name and website in Turbotax?

[TaxNovice3]

Last year I purchased a domain name and website that makes income. After a lot of searching I think the best thing to do is amortize it over 15 years as an intangible asset for a sole proprietorship. Is that right? If so, how do I enter that correctly in Turbotax?

[MichaelDC · Accepted solution]

Yes. That's right. You'll be amortizing it over 15 years.

Here's how to enter your asset:

From the Business tab, click Update for the Business Income and Expenses section

• click Edit for your business
• click Update on the Business Assets section
• answer Yes on the "Did you buy any items..." questions then click Continue
• answer Yes to both questions on the "Let's see if you qualify..." screen then click Continue
• click "Some items..." on the "Now, let's review..." screen then click Continue
• answer "No" on the "Did you make improvements..." screen then click Continue
• click Continue on the "Here's how to apply..." screen
• click Add an Asset at the bottom of the Asset List page
• Screen "Describe this property" select "Intangibles ,other property" Continue
• Screen "Tell Us a Little More" select "Amortized Intangibles"

[TaxNovice3]

Thank you for your response! When I do that, the next screen shows that the asset will be amortized over 15 years. But then in the following screen when I look at the details, it says the entire cost will be deducted for my 2016 return. Is that right?

[TaxNovice3]

It looks like there was some information in the form from previous changes - when I looked at the forms I saw the 179 deduction was checked and showed an error. Removing that changed the deduction to happen over 15 years as expected. Thanks!

[MichaelDC]

Nice catch. Good luck!