McGraw-Hill's Taxation of Business Entities 3rd Edition by Connie Weaver, Brian Spilker, Edmund Outslay, John Robinson, Ronald Worsham, Benjamin Ayers, John Barrick

Exercise 37

After several profitable years running her business, Ingrid decided to acquire the assets of a small competing business. On May 1 of year 1, Ingrid acquired the competing business for $300,000. Ingrid allocated $50,000 of the purchase price to goodwill. Ingrid's business reports its taxable income on a calendar-year basis.
a. How much amortization expense on the goodwill can Ingrid deduct in year 1, year 2, and year 3
b. In lieu of the original facts, assume that $40,000 of the purchase price was allocated to goodwill and $10,000 of the purchase price was allocated to a customer phone list that has an expected life of two years. How much amortization expense on the goodwill and the phone list can Ingrid deduct in year 1, year 2, and year 3
c. Assume that the only intangible asset Ingrid acquired was the customer phone list with a useful life of two years and that $10,000 of the purchase price was allocated to the customer list. How much amortization expense for the customer phone list can Ingrid deduct in year 1, year 2, and year 3, and how will she account for the fact that the phone list is no longer useful after April of year 3