No business this year –
closed last year
Most likely when you
started this year's tax return, you did indicate that you do NOT have business
income/expenses to report. But the business stuff was still imported anyway
from the previous year's return. This will happen if you did not completely and
correctly report your disposition of this business on the previous year's
return. You can always go back and edit last year's return using the guidance
below. But if your business is not that complex, you can just report it's
"final" disposition with a date of 1/1/2017
Otherwise, with the online
version of the program, you must have your return open so that you can edit it.
Then click My Account in the upper right and select the clear and start over
option. A few screens later you can select the flavor of TurboTax you desire to
start with.
However, if you did not
*completely* report you business disposition on the prior year's tax return.
then as far as the IRS is concerned, you are still in business. To completely
report your business as being no longer, you must do all of the following:
At the beginning of the
business section one of the screens has a selection on it for "I sold or
otherwise disposed of this business in [tax year]. You must select that option
and press on "as if" you still own the business.
WHen you get to the
business summary screen, you have to work through income and expenses, even if
those amounts are all zeros.
Next, you must work through
the Business Assets section, and if any assets are listed there you must show
your disposition of each and every asset one at a time. Start working through
the first asset and on the screen that ask, indicate that YES you DID STOP
USING this asset in [tax year]. Then continue working the asset through to
report it's disposition - be it sold, removed for personal use, given away,
stolen, destroyed, whatever.
Note that you must show
your disposition for each and every asset listed, individually.
After you're finished with
all the assets, if your business claimed ANY vehicle use at ANY time you were
in business, then you will need to work through the business vehicle section to
show the disposition of the vehicle - even if that vehicle was a personal
vehicle not used 100% for the business. Most likely, your disposition of the
vehicle would be "removed for personal use", beucase while not
unheard of, it's rare that the sale of a business reported on SCH C would
include the vehicle in that sale too.
Finally, if your business
carrys inventory and you still have unsold inventory, then you must make your
EOY inventory balance $0. To do that, on the COGS screen simply indicate that
all remaining inventory was “removed from the business for personal use” and
this will make your EOY Inventory balance $0.
Once you've completed all
the above, just work it through to the end, and this will be the last year you
file a SCH C for this specific business that you no longer have.
