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Okay, so you took the big Section 179 expensing deduction on your vehicle.

Written by nevegroup on . Posted in Blog.

How do you keep it?

You might wonder: What do we mean by “keep it”?

In tax law, there’s no free lunch. The Section 179 deduction comes with “recapture strings” attached.

When you claim your Section 179 deduction, you make a deal with the government to keep your business use above 50 percent during the “designated” depreciation periods (five years for vehicles).

One Sad Story

In 2018, Jerry Jackson claimed a $53,000 Section 179 deduction on a qualifying pickup truck. In 2020, Jerry’s wife drives the truck and Jerry’s business use drops to zero.

Jerry violated his 50 percent business-use agreement with the government. Now he has phantom income to report (called “recapture”), and he’s going to pay the price for breaking his tax promise on the Section 179 deal.

The pickup truck is listed property. This means that Jerry must recompute his allowable deductions using the ADS straight-line depreciation tables, which will result in the following:

  • $5,300 deduction (10 percent of $53,000) in 2018
  • $10,600 deduction (20 percent of $53,000) in 2019

In 2018, Jerry deducted his 90 percent business cost ($53,000) using Section 179. But now, with recapture, his ADS straight-line depreciation for 2018 and 2019 totals only $15,900 ($5,300 + $10,600).

So in 2020, the year of violation, tax law recaptures $37,100 ($53,000 – $15,900). Jerry must report the 2020 recapture income on the same form or line on which he (or his corporation) claimed the original $53,000 deduction in 2018.

For example, say Jerry operates as a proprietor who claimed his 2018 Section 179 deduction on Schedule C. In 2020, he reports the recapture income as other income on Schedule C.

Holy smokes! On Schedule C, that means the Section 179 recapture is going to create self-employment taxes. Correct! The original Section 179 deduction reduced self-employment taxes.

On his recapture income, Jerry gets the double whammy: increased income and self-employment taxes.

Traps to Consider

Retirement. Are you going to retire? Will retirement bring your business use to zero?

Children. Do your children drive your business vehicle(s)? Will their driving bring your business use to 50 percent or less?

Spouse. Does your spouse drive your business vehicle for personal purposes? Will your spouse’s mileage drop your business use to 50 percent or less?

Personal use. Are you converting Section 179 assets, such as a vehicle, to personal use? Does the conversion to personal use occur during the recapture period?