Henrietta, the owner of a very successful hotel chain in the Southeast, is exploring the possibility of expanding the chain into a city in the Northeast. She incurs $42,500 of expenses associated with this investigation. Based on the regulatory environment for hotels in the city, she decides not to expand. During the year, she also investigates opening a restaurant that will be part of a national restaurant chain. Her expenses for this are $50,600. She proceeds with opening the restaurant, and it begins operations on May 1. Required:
Determine the amount that Nancy can deduct in the current year for investigating these two businesses. In your computation, round the per-month amount to the nearest dollar and use rounded amount in subsequent computations. If required, round your final answers to the nearest dollar.

Total deduction for the year = $48,956

Explanation:

You can deduct investigation expenses but only for new business that is in the same industry as your current business. In this case, Henrietta incurred in $42,500 expenses trying to expand her hotel business. Total deduction for the current year = $42,500.

If the investigation expenses are not related to your current business, e.g. restaurants, then you can capitalize the costs and amortize them only if you actually carried out the expansion.

You can deduct up to $5,000 during the first year but this amount decreases by $1 for every dollar above $50,000. Total immediate deduction = $4,400. The remaining $46,200 must be amortized over 180 months. Amortization per month = $46,200 / 180 = $257

Total amortization for year 1 = 8 months x $257 = $2,056

Total deduction for the year = $42,500 + $4,400 + $2,056 = $48,956