Can you claim business expenses on a business you don鈥檛 have yet?

There will be a lot of trail and error and money going into researching and creating the product or service. Will I be able to claim any of the financial investments as a business expense even though I don鈥檛 have a finished product? For example, traveling expenses, product prototypes, etc. Thanks everybody!

If that were true then everyone could do that, claim the business never got off the ground, and deduct it.

Deductions offset income...you can't spend $10 on startup, have no income, and have the gov't owing you money back.

i think it is not possible

It would be considered a research and development expense but I would advise to have back up information and all things in order when doing this... It is a kind of tricky area...

The answer is YES.Expenses was incured ,money was spent on travelling expenses etc,since there was money already voted for such which is called WORKING CAPITAL.this is what is used to run the business before the business is gotten.

You should be able to deduct all your expenses once the business is up and running.
Expenses are deducted from your gross profits.