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A $90,000 sedan deducts $20,300 this year. A $90,000 heavy SUV deducts $90,000. Same price — the GVWR label is the difference.
The business vehicle deduction has three radically different answers depending on one number: the GVWR on the certification label inside the driver's door. A passenger car at or under 6,000 lbs is crushed by the §280F luxury caps — $20,300 maximum in year one for 2026, no matter that bonus depreciation is 100%, with the rest dribbling out over nine years. A heavy SUV between 6,001 and 14,000 lbs escapes those caps entirely: $32,000 of Section 179 plus 100% bonus depreciation writes off the whole business-use basis in year one. And exempt work vehicles — pickups with a 6-foot-plus bed, cargo vans, 9+ passenger vans, anything over 14,000 lbs — don't even face the SUV cap. This calculator prices all three paths at your business-use percentage and tax rate, so the vehicle decision happens before the purchase order, not after.
Business owners use it before signing for a vehicle: the door-jamb GVWR picks the path — $20,300 luxury cap vs $90,000 year-one write-off on the same $90k price tag, with the 50%-use recapture trap and mileage-method lock-in flagged.
GVWR is the manufacturer's maximum loaded weight on the federal certification label inside the driver's door — not curb weight, not towing capacity. Common qualifiers: Chevy Tahoe/Suburban, Ford Expedition, GMC Yukon, Cadillac Escalade, Range Rover, BMW X7, Mercedes GLS/G-Class, Tesla Model X, Toyota Sequoia/Land Cruiser, and virtually all full-size pickups. Common FAILURES: most crossovers (RAV4, CR-V, Model Y under some configs), sedans, and smaller SUVs. The same model can straddle the line between trims — verify the specific vehicle's label before signing. One line matters: 6,001 lbs qualifies, 6,000 lbs does not.
Mostly — with teeth. A $90,000 SUV at 100% business use really does deduct $90,000 in year one under 2026 rules ($32,000 §179 + $58,000 bonus), saving $31,500 at a 35% marginal rate. The parts TikTok leaves out: business use must genuinely exceed 50% with a contemporaneous mileage log — this is among the most-audited deductions in the code; the deduction is prorated (70% business use deducts 70% of basis); dropping to ≤50% in any later year claws back the excess as income (recapture); and many states don't conform to bonus depreciation, shrinking the real saving. The deduction should follow a business need, not create one — the truck still costs $58,500 after tax.
Run both — the answer flips on vehicle price and miles. Standard mileage (72.5¢/mile in 2026) is simple and unbeatable for cheap, high-mileage vehicles: 20,000 business miles in a $25,000 car deducts $14,500 with zero depreciation math. Actual expenses with §179/bonus wins for expensive vehicles: a $70,000 heavy SUV deducts up to $70,000 in year one regardless of miles (subject to use percentage). The lock-in rule: if you claim §179 or bonus on a vehicle, you must stay on the actual-expense method for that vehicle forever; starting with standard mileage preserves the choice to switch. Commuting is never deductible either way — but a qualifying home office turns trips from home into business miles.