Gas Station Depreciation (Say that 5 times fast!)

[Yonah Weiss]

I had a great conversation with @Kay Kay Singh today about the depreciation of gas stations, and thought I would share some relevant information regarding the tax laws for the general benefit of the BP community.

Gas Stations (or 'retail motor fuels outlets' as they're called by the IRS) are depreciated over 15 years, and not 39 years like almost all other commercial properties.

If any one of the following three criteria are met:

• It is not larger than 1,400 square feet.
• 50% or more of the gross revenues generated from the property are derived from petroleum sales.

• 50% or more of the floor space in the property is devoted to petroleum marketing sales.

Here is the link to the IRS publication on this subject where the above words were take from.

(It should be noted that almost always 50% or more of the revenue is generated from the gas, even if the gas station is not profitable.)