We spent money before launch on travel, branding, and legal setup. How much can be deducted now and how much has to be amortized?
Our company spent several months preparing to launch and racked up costs for branding, market research, travel, legal setup, and early admin work before we actually began operations. I assumed most of it would just be deducted in the first return, but now I am hearing that startup and organizational costs have their own limits and 180-month amortization rule.
I am trying to keep the first-year return clean. If there is a limited upfront deduction with a phaseout above $50,000 and the rest spreads over 180 months, I want to separate the cost pools correctly now rather than rebuilding them later.
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