Tool · federal tax · assets placed in service in 2025 or 2026
Depreciation calculator
Enter one asset. You get the first-year deduction built up line by line, the Form 4562 lines it goes on, a year-by-year federal schedule using the IRS percentage tables, and the matching book entries.
Your schedule
Result · 7-year property · Pub 946 Table A-1 · HY · 200DB
First year on the tape
2026 · placed in service 03/2026
- Cost50,000.00
- Depreciable basis50,000.00
- Bonus 100%50,000.00
- MACRS year 1 @ 14.29%0.00
- First-year deduction (2026)50,000.00
Form 4562, first year
- Ln 14Special depreciation allowance50,000.00
- Ln 19c (b)Month and year placed in service03/2026
- Ln 19c (c)Basis for depreciation (after §179 and bonus)0.00
- Ln 19c (d)–(f)Recovery period · convention · method7 yrs. · HY · 200 DB
- Ln 19c (g)Depreciation deduction0.00
- Ln 17Later years: this asset's MACRS deduction goes on line 17—
Year-by-year schedule
| Yr | Tax year | Rate | Bonus | MACRS | Deduction | Accumulated | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026 | 14.29% | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 2027 | 24.49% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | |
| 3 | 2028 | 17.49% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | |
| 4 | 2029 | 12.49% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | |
| 5 | 2030 | 8.93% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | |
| 6 | 2031 | 8.92% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | |
| 7 | 2032 | 8.93% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 | |
| 8 | 2033 | 4.46% | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,000.00 | 0.00 |
Book depreciation next to the tax deduction
Straight line over 7 years, prorated by month in the first year. Book figures use the full cost; the tax column uses the business-use share. The difference is a timing difference that reverses over the asset's life.
| Year | Tax deduction | Book expense | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 50,000.00 | 5,952.38 | 44,047.62 |
| 2027 | 0.00 | 7,142.86 | -7,142.86 |
| 2028 | 0.00 | 7,142.86 | -7,142.86 |
| 2029 | 0.00 | 7,142.86 | -7,142.86 |
| 2030 | 0.00 | 7,142.86 | -7,142.86 |
| 2031 | 0.00 | 7,142.86 | -7,142.86 |
| 2032 | 0.00 | 7,142.86 | -7,142.86 |
| 2033 | 0.00 | 1,190.46 | -1,190.46 |
Journal entries (books)
| Date | Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | Record the purchase at cost | ||
| Equipment | 50,000.00 | ||
| Cash (or Notes Payable) | 50,000.00 | ||
| Dec 31, 2026 | Book depreciation for 2026 | ||
| Depreciation Expense | 5,952.38 | ||
| Accumulated Depreciation — Equipment | 5,952.38 | ||
| Dec 31, 2027 | Book depreciation for 2027 | ||
| Depreciation Expense | 7,142.86 | ||
| Accumulated Depreciation — Equipment | 7,142.86 | ||
How the calculator works
It follows the order the IRS uses on Form 4562 [Form 4562 instr., line 14]:
- Business basis. Cost, minus land for buildings, times your business-use percentage.
- Section 179 deduction. An election to deduct all or part of the cost of qualifying property in the year it is placed in service, up to an annual dollar limit and your business income. Glossary first. Up to $2,500,000 for 2025 and $2,560,000 for 2026, phased out above $4,000,000 and $4,090,000 of §179 property placed in service [Pub 946] [Rev. Proc. 2025-32, §3.24].
- Bonus depreciation. The special depreciation allowance under section 168(k): an extra first-year deduction for qualified property (100% for property acquired after January 19, 2025, unless you elect otherwise). Glossary next, on what is left: 100% for property acquired after January 19, 2025, unless you elect 40% (for the first tax year ending after that date) or elect out [Notice 2026-11]. Property acquired earlier gets 40% if placed in service in 2025.
- Regular MACRS. Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System, the federal tax depreciation system for most property placed in service after 1986. It has two systems: GDS and ADS. Glossary on the remainder, using the percentage table for the asset's Convention. The MACRS rule for how much of the first and last year counts: half-year, mid-quarter or mid-month. Glossary: Table A-1 (half-year), A-2 to A-5 (mid-quarter), A-6 (residential rental) or A-7a (nonresidential) [Pub 946, App. A].
- Vehicle limits. For Passenger automobile. A four-wheeled vehicle made mainly for public roads rated at 6,000 pounds or less unloaded gross vehicle weight (gross vehicle weight for trucks and vans). Annual depreciation caps apply. Glossary the total of §179, bonus and MACRS each year is capped at the IRS limit times your business-use percentage [Rev. Proc. 2025-16] [Rev. Proc. 2026-15].
Passenger automobile limits used
| Year | 1st yr with bonus | 1st yr without | 2nd yr | 3rd yr | Each later yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $20,200 | $12,200 | $19,600 | $11,800 | $7,060 |
| 2026 | $20,300 | $12,300 | $19,800 | $11,900 | $7,160 |
The "with bonus" first-year limit applies when the car is qualified property and you have not elected out of bonus depreciation.
Why the safe harbor matters for cars
With 100% bonus, a car that costs more than the first-year limit would, under the default rule, deduct only the limit in year 1 and then nothing until the 5-year recovery period ends. Rev. Proc. 2019-13 lets you instead apply the table percentages to the remaining basis in years 2 to 6, still subject to each year's limit [Rev. Proc. 2019-13, §4.03]. The calculator's tests reproduce that revenue procedure's Examples 1 and 2. The safe harbor is not available if you claimed §179 on the car.
The 2026 bonus rate for property acquired before January 20, 2025 (20%) is an inference from the phase-down described in Notice 2026-11; the calculator labels it as such. Results are estimates for planning and record-keeping, not tax advice.
Sources
- Publication 946 (2025), How To Depreciate Property, Internal Revenue Service. Official guidance · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Publication 946 (2025), Appendix A — MACRS Percentage Tables (PDF), Internal Revenue Service. Official guidance · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments), Internal Revenue Service. Revenue procedure · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Rev. Proc. 2025-16 (2025 passenger automobile limits), Internal Revenue Service. Revenue procedure · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Rev. Proc. 2026-15 (2026 passenger automobile limits), Internal Revenue Service. Revenue procedure · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Rev. Proc. 2019-13 (safe harbor for passenger automobiles with 100% bonus depreciation), Internal Revenue Service. Revenue procedure · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Notice 2026-11 (interim guidance on the additional first year depreciation deduction), Internal Revenue Service. IRS notice · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Instructions for Form 4562 (2025), Internal Revenue Service. Official guidance · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Publication 527 (2025), Residential Rental Property, Internal Revenue Service. Official guidance · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026
- Principles of Accounting, Volume 1: 11.3 Explain and Apply Depreciation Methods to Allocate Capitalized Costs, OpenStax, Rice University. Textbook (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) · full text · checked Oct 24, 2026