Can I deduct the cost of a laptop and equipment I bought before earning any income?

Costs incurred before your business officially opens are 'startup costs,' and the IRS handles them specially. You can deduct up to $5,000 of startup expenses in your first year, plus another $5,000 of organizational costs, with the remainder amortized over 15 years. The $5,000 immediate deduction phases out if total startup costs exceed $50,000. Equipment like a laptop is often treated instead as a depreciable asset once the business begins, and you may be able to expense it fully using Section 179 or bonus depreciation in the year you start using it. Keep receipts and note the date you were 'open for business,' because that line determines whether a cost is startup or ordinary.