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Before you ever quite get the business off the ground – or while you’re still contemplating your options – there are tax advantages available to you. Startup expenses are a good percentage of costs at the beginning of your business and include equipment, supplies and location, and also expenses incurred by investigating a business you want to purchase or create. Startup expenses also include the services performed by your professional team of accountants, attorneys and advisors who assist you in setting up the company, including legal fees for preparing your legal entity, filing fees paid to the state for official records and the like.

Startup expenses paid before the business is actually up and running can’t be taken as deductions or losses, but during your first tax year you can write off $5,000 and over the next 15 years the rest of the expenses can be deducted, starting with the first month of operation. According to the IRS, the $5,000 deduction is reduced by the amount of total startup costs if those costs are more than $50,000, in which case the remaining costs must be amortized.

In order to utilize your startup expense deductions, you’ll need to choose the write-off election. To do this, attach IRS Form 4562 to your first annual return. (You can file Form 4562 for both organizational and startup costs). As well, for more information on these and other important tax issues please see Tom Wheelwright’s Tax-Free Wealth (RDA Press, 2012).

As soon as you decide you want to go into business, start keeping records. The more you document, the better your ability to take the tax deductions and credits your business deserves. The better you document your financial transactions and decisions, the better you protect your corporate veil – and allow it to keep protecting you.