Tax considerations for working on cookbook and food blog

[ruchrana]

I have spent hours in a rabbit hole trying to figure out how to appropriately determine filing taxes for this year based on expenses.

I decided this year to work on a cookbook (in earnest) and have bought photography equipment, taken courses in food photography, have experimented with recipes and done recipe building etc. But I have not sold anything and I haven't made a "publishing" deal or anything yet. All of those expenses were out-of-ocket, so can I deduct them if I am in the process of being a cookbook author with the intention of making eventual sales from it?

I don't want to make any errors with filing, but I also don't want all of those (in my opinion) business expenses to not be deducted if they are eligible. Does anyone have guidance on this for people making a cookbook?

[Bsch4477]

Your issue is the deduction of start up costs for a business. This is a link to IRS information. 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/heres-how-businesses-can-deduct-startup-costs-from-their-federal-taxes

[taxlady28]

I don't think you deduct your startup costs until your business is actually operational.   They would be a deduction against the business, not a personal deduction.