Claiming last years expenses this year? Tom?

[BrooklynM]

Tom- I'm hoping you can help me. For our 2013 taxes, we had a write off from the prior year when we sold a rental property and lost money. We had so much of a write off from that, I didn't need to put any of my expenses on our taxes. In fact, I didn't even claim one of my kids, I let my ex claim them in return for me to claim both of my kids this year. My question is- can I use the expenses I had for daycare last year this year?

Thank you!

[TomCopeland]

When to claim expenses

Tom- I'm hoping you can help me. For our 2013 taxes, we had a write off from the prior year when we sold a rental property and lost money. We had so much of a write off from that, I didn't need to put any of my expenses on our taxes. In fact, I didn't even claim one of my kids, I let my ex claim them in return for me to claim both of my kids this year. My question is- can I use the expenses I had for daycare last year this year?

Thank you!

You can't put expenses on your Schedule C for 2014 that you incurred in 2013. If putting all of your 2013 expenses on Form 8829 for 2013 would create a loss for your business, you can then carry over that loss onto your 2014 Form 8829.