Business startup date & business startup expenses.
Hello,
I am trying to determine the optimal starting date for my online business.
First of all, regarding business start up expenses, I don't understand what the point of business start up expenses are anyways. Due to the section 179 deduction it seems like I could just expense everything right away anyways if I considered something an asset.
If I considered something a business expense, then I would be able to expense it right away anyways as well (just as a regular expense). So what the [removed] is the point of the business startup deduction?
I could see maybe an issue if expenses to start the business before the starting date were different than expense after the starting date, but what is the IRS saying, that anything over 5,000 is supposed to be capitalized over time? Even if it isn't an asset? If that is the case it would be most optimal to start my business on the books as soon as possible, and then consider everything a business expense which means I could expense an infinite amount of expenses!
An example issue: I will be purchasing Microsoft Office, if I buy it after the start date, I could just consider it an asset and section 179 deduct it right away, or, if I bought it before the start date could I just do the same thing? I.E. treat assets that were purchased before business start as a section 179 deduction? Please someone clear up the confusion, even accountants I have talked to don't know the answers to these simple questions.
And also, what qualifies me as being able to consider my business open? Can I just set a date to anything I want that is around the time of business start? Please help, thanks!
Justin-
