Should I take bonus depreciation?

For property acquired after January 19, 2025, 100% bonus is the default unless you elect out. Taking it all up front isn't always best — if your income will be higher later, spreading the deduction can be worth more. That's a question for your tax preparer.

Why does my tax software show a slightly different number?

Most likely rounding (whole dollars vs. cents) or a different convention. The percentages here are the IRS table percentages.

What's ADS and when do I need it?

The Alternative Depreciation System — straight line over longer lives. It's required for listed property used 50% or less for business, some farm and real estate elections, and property used mostly outside the US.

Does the spreadsheet recalculate?

Cost, business use, §179, and bonus are live inputs driving the whole schedule. The property class, convention, and dates pick the table column — change those on the website and download again.

Assets & DepreciationTax years 2025 & 2026

MACRS Depreciation Calculator

Tax depreciation straight from the IRS tables: every property class, half-year or mid-quarter, rental and commercial buildings by month, with §179, bonus, business use, and the year you sell.

Ben / Reviewed Sep 27, 2026 / v2.0.0

Your numbers

The asset

Tax year

Description

Cost basis

Date placed in service

Property class

Method

Depreciation system

Convention

Use and elections

Business use

Listed property (car, truck, etc.)?

Section 179 deduction

Bonus depreciation

Sold or disposed of (optional)

Results

Showing the numbers you calculated

Heads up

Qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 gets 100% bonus depreciation unless you elect out. This schedule assumes you elected out (or the property doesn't qualify) — enter 100 to see the bonus version.

Deduction this tax year: $5,716.00; Tax year 2026
First-year deduction: $5,716.00
MACRS basis: $40,000.00; After business use, §179, and bonus
Remaining basis: $34,284.00; End of 2026
Recovery period: 7.0; Half-year · Pub 946 Table A-1 (7-year, half-year)

MACRS schedule

Swipe the table sideways to see all 8 columns.

MACRS schedule
Year	Tax year	Rate %	MACRS	§179 + bonus	Total deduction	Accumulated	Remaining basis
1	2026	14.29	$5,716.00	$0.00	$5,716.00	$5,716.00	$34,284.00
2	2027	24.49	$9,796.00	$0.00	$9,796.00	$15,512.00	$24,488.00
3	2028	17.49	$6,996.00	$0.00	$6,996.00	$22,508.00	$17,492.00
4	2029	12.49	$4,996.00	$0.00	$4,996.00	$27,504.00	$12,496.00
5	2030	8.93	$3,572.00	$0.00	$3,572.00	$31,076.00	$8,924.00
6	2031	8.92	$3,568.00	$0.00	$3,568.00	$34,644.00	$5,356.00
7	2032	8.93	$3,572.00	$0.00	$3,572.00	$38,216.00	$1,784.00
8	2033	4.46	$1,784.00	$0.00	$1,784.00	$40,000.00	$0.00

What this does

MACRS is the depreciation you use on your tax return. The IRS publishes the percentages for each year in Publication 946; this looks them up for your asset, applies them to the right basis, and builds the whole schedule.

It handles the parts that trip people up: §179 and bonus depreciation coming off the top first, partial business use, the mid-quarter convention, rental and commercial buildings (which are straight line by the month), and the year you sell or scrap the asset.

How the math works

business basis = cost × business-use %
MACRS basis = business basis − §179 − bonus
deduction each year = MACRS basis × that year's table %

3, 5, 7, 10-year property: 200% declining balance, switching to straight line (baked into the tables).
15 and 20-year property: 150% declining balance.
Residential rental (27.5 years) and nonresidential buildings (39 years): straight line, mid-month convention, starting the month placed in service.
Half-year convention by default; mid-quarter if more than 40% of the year's purchases landed in the last quarter.

In the year you dispose of the asset, you get only part of that year's deduction (half a year, to mid-quarter, or to mid-month, matching the convention).

Land is never depreciable. For a building, only the building's share of the purchase price goes in here.

Check my math: a worked example

Shop equipment costing $40,000, placed in service 03/15/2026 as 7-year property (half-year convention).

Business basis: $40,000.00.
Pub 946 Table A-1 (7-year, half-year): year 1 is 14.29% → $5,716.00.
Year 2 (2027): 24.49% → $9,796.00.
The schedule finishes in 2033 with the full $40,000.00 recovered.

These numbers come straight from the calculator using its example inputs — if the math ever changes, this example changes with it.

Mistakes I see a lot

Using the half-year convention when mid-quarter is required (more than 40% of the year's property placed in service in Q4).
Depreciating the land along with a building.
Forgetting that §179 and bonus reduce the basis MACRS applies to.
Claiming a full year of depreciation in the year you sell the asset.
Using GDS for a vehicle used 50% or less for business — that's ADS straight line, no §179 or bonus.

Questions people ask

Should I take bonus depreciation?: For property acquired after January 19, 2025, 100% bonus is the default unless you elect out. Taking it all up front isn't always best — if your income will be higher later, spreading the deduction can be worth more. That's a question for your tax preparer.
Why does my tax software show a slightly different number?: Most likely rounding (whole dollars vs. cents) or a different convention. The percentages here are the IRS table percentages.
What's ADS and when do I need it?: The Alternative Depreciation System — straight line over longer lives. It's required for listed property used 50% or less for business, some farm and real estate elections, and property used mostly outside the US.
Does the spreadsheet recalculate?: Cost, business use, §179, and bonus are live inputs driving the whole schedule. The property class, convention, and dates pick the table column — change those on the website and download again.

Assumptions and limits

GDS percentages come straight from IRS Publication 946 (2025), Appendix A: Table A-1 (half-year), A-2 to A-5 (mid-quarter, by quarter placed in service), A-6 (27.5-year residential rental), and A-7a (39-year nonresidential real property).
Buildings are straight line on the original basis with the mid-month convention, by the month placed in service. ADS and the straight-line election use computed straight-line percentages that total exactly 100% (the printed ADS tables can differ by 0.01% in a year).
Order of deductions: business-use basis → §179 (as elected) → bonus on what's left → MACRS on the rest. The basis is reduced by the §179 you elect, even if the income limit defers part of it (Reg. §1.179-1(f)).
Bonus depreciation: 100% for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 (P.L. 119-21); for property acquired before January 20, 2025 it's 40% if placed in service in 2025 and 20% in 2026. Enter the percentage that applies — you can also elect out (0%).
Each year's deduction = depreciable basis × that year's percentage, rounded to the cent; the last year trues up so the schedule recovers exactly the basis.
Disposition year: half-year → half a year; mid-quarter → to the middle of the quarter; mid-month → to the middle of the month. No deduction if placed in service and disposed of in the same year.
Calendar tax years, one asset, business use constant over the life. §179 income and phase-out limits, §280F vehicle caps, and state conformity aren't applied here.

Ben’s notes on this

Related calculators

Section 179
How much of a new asset you can write off this year under Section 179 — the dollar limit, the phase-out, the business income limit, the carryforward, and the basis that's left for bonus depreciation and MACRS.
Depreciation Recapture
Sold equipment or a building you depreciated? Split the gain the way Form 4797 does — recapture taxed as ordinary income, unrecaptured §1250 gain at up to 25%, and the rest as Section 1231 gain or loss.
Straight-Line Depreciation
Book depreciation the simple way: cost minus salvage, spread evenly over the useful life, starting the month it goes into service — by fiscal year, with the journal entries.
Asset Disposal
Sold, scrapped, or junked an asset? Figure the book value, the gain or loss, and the journal entry that takes it off the books — balanced, every time.

Spot an error?

This is a public notebook and I do make mistakes. If a number looks off, tell me — I fix things and note the change in the changelog.

Disclaimer: Educational and planning use only. Results depend on what you enter and may not match your lender, your tax return, or professional accounting treatment. Informational content + opinions only — not tax/legal advice.