Inventory Reporting Question

[thereddoor]

Our business had never met the threshold where you had to report inventory. 2020 however was different. My question is given that we had not reported in 2019 what should I fill in as our beginning number for 2020? Just don't want to create a discrepancy.

[ColeenD3]

Your beginning inventory is the cost of goods you had on hand. It can't be zero because the purchases were made prior to 2020.

[thereddoor]

Thank you for the response and your time @ColeenD3 . One quick follow up if I could. Given that we did not report inventory in 2019 will that not create a discrepancy between our 2019 and 2020 returns? If so how do I solve this? 

Turbo Tax seems to indicate that the our ending 2019 and beginning 2020 need to match.

[ColeenD3]

It may or may not. If you get a letter, just explain the reasoning. Not everything can be done cleanly on the tax return.

[thereddoor]

@ColeenD3 thank you for your time and assistance.