Business Vehicle & Equipment Depreciation Calculator

Bought a car, a truck, a food truck or equipment for your business? Pick the asset and see its IRS category, then compare 100% bonus depreciation, Section 179, regular MACRS, straight line and ADS side by side: how much you write off in each year, whether a new business would show a loss, and which elections you need to make. For a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, an S corporation, a C corporation or a partnership.

Placed in Service in 2025 or 2026

Your Business and Asset

1. The business

Only the owner of the property can depreciate it.
Enter as the cost the smaller of (a) what you paid plus improvements, or (b) its fair market value on the day you started using it in the business. As the month placed in service, enter the month you started using it in the business.

2. The asset

Look the asset up in IRS Publication 946, Appendix B (Tables B-1 and B-2).
Price plus sales tax, delivery, installation and setup. Count the loan amount too — financed property is depreciated in full.
For vehicles: business miles ÷ total miles. Commuting is not business use.
Placed in service = ready and available for its job (equipment installed, permits in hand), even if you haven't used it yet.
Property acquired after January 19, 2025 gets the permanent 100% bonus depreciation. Earlier purchases follow the old phase-down: 40% if placed in service in 2025, 20% in 2026.
Convention (half-year or mid-quarter)
Mid-quarter applies to everything you placed in service during the year if more than 40% of the year's total cost (after Section 179, not counting buildings) was placed in service in October–December. With one asset bought in October–December, that is always the case.

3. Options to compare

4. Your income (optional)

Add it to see whether the write-off creates a loss and how the Section 179 income limit works. Leave blank to skip.
Wages count toward the Section 179 income limit.

Results

Fill in the form and press Calculate. You will see the asset's IRS category, the write-off for every year under each option you picked, a chart, and what you need to do to use each option.

Your Asset's Category

First-Year Write-Off

Write-Off by Year

What You Need to Do for Each Option

    Where It Goes on the Return

    How This Calculator Works

    1. The category: property class and recovery period

    Every asset has an IRS class life (Publication 946, Appendix B) that sets its GDS recovery period (3, 5, 7, 15 years…) and a longer ADS recovery period. What counts is what the asset is, not how much it is driven or used. A food truck that stays parked in one spot is still a truck: 5-year property. Its built-in kitchen equipment would be 5-year property anyway (class 57.0). Depreciation starts when the asset is ready and available for its job and continues even while it sits idle.

    AssetAsset classGDSADS
    Cars, taxis00.225 years5 years
    Light trucks and vans (actual unloaded weight under 13,000 lb)00.2415 years5 years
    Heavy trucks (13,000 lb or more)00.2425 years6 years
    Trailers and trailer-mounted containers00.275 years6 years
    Tractor units for over-the-road use00.263 years4 years
    Computers and peripheral equipment00.125 years5 years
    Copiers, calculators, accounting machines00.135 years6 years
    Office furniture, fixtures, safes00.117 years10 years
    Equipment of stores, restaurants and service businesses57.05 years9 years
    Construction contractor equipment15.05 years6 years
    Equipment with no class life—7 years12 years
    Qualified improvement property (interior of a commercial building)—15 years, straight line20 years

    2. The order of the deductions

    First Section 179 (you choose the amount, up to $2,500,000 for 2025 and $2,560,000 for 2026; heavy SUVs are capped at $31,300 for 2025 and $32,000 for 2026; and it can't exceed your business income). Then bonus depreciation on what is left: 100% for property acquired after January 19, 2025, or 40% (2025) / 20% (2026) for property acquired earlier. Then regular MACRS on the remainder. Section 179 needs more than 50% business use and isn't available for property you used personally before.

    3. MACRS

    Regular MACRS (200% declining balance for 3- to 10-year property, 150% for 15- and 20-year property) uses the IRS percentage tables from Publication 946, Appendix A (Tables A-1 to A-5). The other methods (the 150% election, straight line, ADS) use the Publication 946 formulas, with the rates rounded the same way as the tables. The half-year convention applies, or mid-quarter when more than 40% of the year's purchases were placed in service in October–December. Each year is rounded to whole dollars, and the last year takes what is left. Checked against the worked examples in Publications 946 and 463 and Rev. Proc. 2019-13.

    4. Cars and other passenger automobiles (6,000 lb or less)

    Total depreciation, including bonus and Section 179, is capped each year: for 2025, $20,200 in year 1 with bonus ($12,200 without), $19,600 in year 2, $11,800 in year 3 and $7,060 a year after that; for 2026, $20,300 ($12,300), $19,800, $11,900 and $7,160. The caps are multiplied by the business-use percentage. With 100% bonus, years 2–6 follow the IRS safe harbor in Rev. Proc. 2019-13; any cost left after the recovery period is deducted at the later-year cap until it is used up. A truck or van that has been specially modified so it is unlikely to be used personally (a food truck, a van with permanent shelving and the business name painted on) is a qualified nonpersonal use vehicle: no caps.

    5. Income and losses

    If you enter your profit, Section 179 is limited to business taxable income (for individuals, wages count too), and the unused part carries forward to the next year. Bonus and MACRS can create a loss. For a sole proprietor, a loss first offsets other income on the same return; what is left becomes a net operating loss that can only be carried forward, offsets at most 80% of taxable income in a later year, and does not reduce self-employment tax.

    6. Not covered

    Selling the asset (depreciation recapture), several assets placed in service in the same year, trade-ins, short or fiscal tax years, changes in business use after the first year, leased vehicles, the alternative minimum tax, the excess business loss limit, qualified production property, and state depreciation rules (many states don't follow federal bonus depreciation).

    Sources

    Want the plain-English version? Read our guide: Can I Write Off My Business Vehicle or Equipment This Year?

    Estimate only — not tax advice

    This calculator gives an estimate for planning purposes only, not a final calculation. It follows IRS Publication 946 and the Form 4562 instructions as described above for one asset and does not cover every situation (several assets in one year, sales and recapture, changes in business use, state rules). Elections such as electing out of bonus depreciation usually can't be undone, so talk to a tax professional before you file. Calculator created October 13, 2026 — figures reflect IRS guidance current as of that date.

    Contacts

    Mail: West Palm Beach, Florida

    Phone: +1 (616) ···-····

    Email: [email protected]

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