Henrietta, the owner of a very successful hotel chain in the Southeast, is exploring the possibility of expanding the chain into a city in the Northeast. She incurs $49,500 of expenses associated with this investigation. Based on the regulatory environment for hotels in the city, she decides not to expand. During the year, she also investigates opening a restaurant that will be part of a national restaurant chain. Her expenses for this are $52,200. She proceeds with opening the restaurant, and it begins operations on May 1.
Determine the amount that Henrietta can deduct in the current year for investigating these two businesses. In your computation, round the per-month amount to the nearest dollar and use rounded amount in subsequent computations. If required, round your final answers to the nearest dollar.
a. The investigation expenses related to expansion of her hotel chain into another city: $
b. The investigation expenses related to opening a restaurant: $