When acquiring a business, the acquirer will incur significant costs for planning, negotiating, brokering and conducting due diligence on the transaction. Depending on the facts and circumstances, portions of those costs may be immediately deductible, capitalized and amortized over as many as 15 years, or even capitalized permanently until the business is disposed. Understanding the rules that apply to the capitalization of transaction costs is critical to maximizing the acquirer’s current deductions.