Yes, your business start date will be the date you were able to receive compensation in your real estate business (whether or not you actually received any). You will file a Schedule C as a self-employed person.
(This is true as long as you have not taken any steps to become a
corporation or are not a multi-member LLC.)
The Schedule C losses will flow onto
your individual income tax return (Form 1040) and be netted with other personal
income and expenses.
How to get to the area to enter your
business expenses
:
While inside the software and working on your return,
type Schedule C in the Search at the top of the screen (you
may see a magnifying glass there). There will be a popup that says Jump
to Schedule C. Select that to get to the general area.
NOTE: "Business start-up and
organizational costs are generally capital expenditures. However, you can elect
to deduct up to $5,000 of business start-up and $5,000 of organizational costs
paid or incurred after October 22, 2004. The $5,000 deduction is reduced by the
amount your total start-up or organizational costs exceed $50,000. Any
remaining costs must be amortized.
Start-up costs include any
amounts paid or incurred in connection with creating an active trade or
business or investigating the creation or acquisition of an active trade or
business.
Organizational costs include
the costs of creating a corporation. "
You
can elect to deduct or amortize certain business start-up costs. Refer to
chapters 7 and 8 of Publication
535, Business Expenses. 2015
Other business expenses will just be entered in the appropriate categories.
How to get directly to the start-up costs area in TurboTax:
While inside the software and
working on your return, type start-up
expenses in the Search at the
top of the screen (you may see a magnifying glass there). There will be a
popup that says Jump to start-up
expenses. Select that to get to the general area.
