You may dream of turning a hobby into a business. You won’t have any tax headaches if your new business is profitable. But what if the enterprise consistently generates losses (deductions exceed income) and you claim them on your tax return? The IRS may step in and say it’s a hobby (an activity not engaged in for profit) rather than a business. Then you’ll be unable to deduct losses. There are 2 ways to avoid the hobby loss rules: 1) Show a profit in at least 3 out of 5 consecutive years (2 out of 7 years for certain horse businesses). 2) Run the venture in such a way as to show that you intend to turn it into a profit-maker, rather than operate it as a hobby. Contact us for more details.
