[MoniqueRenee]

We are starting a business and spending countless hours getting it set up. Can I enter a fair market salary rate as a loan to the business somehow so that when we are profitable I am able to get reimbursed for that time? We have no balance at present to be able to pay for time spent. How would I enter this transaction? I got the idea from an episode of Shark Tank where there was a large loan out on the company for the time the founders spent that they were not paid for.
Thank you, Monique

[walter88]

Well, to be honest ‘Shark Tank’ is not a very good source of inspiration/information cause it’s just a TV show, but that’s just my opinion. If you want to get really reliable and distinct advice, you should rather use the counseling or accounting services. Good luck!

[joypulv]

Walter, this is a site for answers to such questions. Why bother to answer with a referral to an accounting site in Poland?
Plus, Shark Tank consists of very real business people with plenty of solid knowledge.

The IRS allows you to deduct up to $5,000 or your actual startup costs and $5,000 in organizational costs in the first year, whichever amount is less.
Whatever portion of your startup costs that you can't deduct during the first year can be deducted over the next 180 months of operation, starting with the month after you started your business.
Startup costs that can be deducted fall into one of two categories: money spent investigating opening a business and money spent to get the business started before it actually opens. Costs such as taxes, loan interest and expenses for research and experimentation are not deductible as startup costs, although they may be deductible as ordinary business costs.
Deductible startup costs associated with investigating a business opportunity include market surveys, visiting prospective business facilities, product analysis and labor surveys, whether you perform them yourself or pay a consultant to do so for you.
Deductible startup costs associated with getting the business ready to open include advertising, wages paid to employees in training and their instructors, and travel costs incurred to find suppliers and distributors of raw materials and customers to buy your finished products.
Small equipment purchases also fall under the heading of deductible startup costs, while larger equipment purchases would be depreciated over time once put to use in the running of your business.

I believe that you must show income in that first year allowed. You can't bring forward costs from previous years. There are a few exceptions, such as live theatre.