I think you just made my point. BIG businesses are not a hobby, they are
corporations and thus a different animal. It's always the little guy who
gets screwed.
cisin at
On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 scheefj at
netscape.net wrote:
Grant,
When I was a sole proprietor of a similar business, I was told that the
business had to make money at least once in every three years for the
losses to be deducible from ordinary income.
WHO told you that?
It ain't true, and there have been a few BIG businesses that have had more
than 2 successive years of losses.
BUT, . . .
there is the issue of whether the IRS will believe that it is a business,
not a hobby. IF you always lose money (less than 1 in 3 profitable, or
less than 2 out of 5, etc. depending on the agent), then they are MUCH
more likely to take a look at whether or not they'll believe that it is a
"real" business.