Section 179 Vehicle Depreciation

[Shawn H.]

If I purchase a 'used' truck (6000#+ GVWR, extended cab, short bed) this year, can I deduct the entire purchase amount on this years taxes?  Purchase cost will be less than $25,000. The vehicle will be used 75-100% for business for the next 5+ years. Will I have to recapture depreciation when I sell? Thanks

[Linda Weygant]

You also cannot have your Section 179 deprecation create a net loss for you.  For example, if your net profits before depreciation are $7500 and you have a $10,000 asset to depreciate, you can only use $7500 of the asset value to get you down to a $0 net income.  The remaining $2500 would carry forward to the next year or you could opt to only take $7500 of Section 179 and take regular depreciation on the balance.

If you already had a net loss, Section 179 buys you nothing.