I started a corporation and incurred related costs prior to the incorporation date. These included legal and accounting fees. Is there a way I can claim this?

[ayseleren18]

Thank you for choosing Turbotax,

Yes, you can deduct legal and accounting fees (start-up costs) as business expenses. Your business startup costs can include any reasonable expenses for anything your business needs to get started.

According to the CRA, to claim an expense as a start-up cost on your income tax, you need “to have carried on a business in the fiscal period in which the expense was incurred.” Please see the following link for the complete list of allowable Business Start Up Expenses and for a detailed list of all business expenses, click the following link and visit the CRA’s Business Expenses page.

Please visit our Turbotax article on What You Need to Know About Claiming Start-Up Costs For a New Business in Canada to learn more about start-up costs.