#fixed-assets
Accounting for long-term tangible assets including equipment, vehicles, furniture, and property
The de minimis safe harbor election under Treasury Regulation 1.263(a)-1(f) lets businesses without audited financials immediately expense tangible property purchases up to $2,500 per item, skipping depreciation schedules and capitalization analysis.
Form 4797 governs every business property sale outside Schedule D and decides whether your gain is ordinary or capital. This guide walks through Section 1245 and 1250 recapture, the Section 1231 five-year lookback rule, the 25% unrecaptured Section 1250 gain rate, and seven mistakes that trigger CP2000 notices.
Section 280F caps first-year depreciation on passenger autos at $20,300 in 2026, but SUVs and trucks rated above 6,000 lbs GVWR escape those limits and can combine a $32,000 Section 179 deduction with 100% bonus depreciation. A practical guide to the 2026 numbers, the heavy-vehicle and pickup carve-outs, the 50% business-use cliff, and the mileage-log standards an IRS auditor expects.
A cost segregation study reclassifies a building's components into shorter MACRS lives, unlocking the 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 2025. On a $1M residential rental, that swings first-year tax savings from roughly $10,700 to roughly $90,600—provided the investor clears IRC §469 passive activity loss limits.
Small businesses can deduct repairs immediately but must depreciate capital improvements over 27.5 or 39 years. This guide explains the IRS BAR test (betterment, adaptation, restoration), the three safe harbors that let you expense more, and the documentation required to defend your deductions.
Understand the US federal Section 179 deduction for 2026, including the $2,560,000 limit, eligible equipment, vehicle restrictions, business-income ceiling, and IRS filing rules.
Learn the straight-line depreciation formula, see step-by-step calculation examples, and understand when to use this method. Covers IRS recovery periods, journal entries, depreciation schedules, and comparisons with accelerated methods.
