Yes, you can. The net tax effect will be about -$5: ① Purchase paint and canvas for $5 ② Create $1B asset and add it to your accounting ③ Write down asset to ze

Yes, you can. The net tax effect will be about -$5: ① Purchase paint and canvas for $5 ② Create $1B asset and add it to your accounting ③ Write down asset to zero. You can claim a $5 loss and reduce you tax burden by $1 or something like that, so the scheme only costs you $4. Clever people try to do more sophisticated versions of this around the end of a year. Add an asset in December, write it down in January, or the other way around. That can make sense if the rules for the two years are different, or if there's some reason to pay the tax in 2023 instead of 2024, or…