CalcStack — free, instant, no signup. The interactive calculator loads automatically.
A $75,000 machine costs $48,750 after tax. The deduction is only limited if you layer it wrong.
2026 is the most generous equipment-expensing year in tax history: OBBBA lifted Section 179 to $2,560,000 (with the dollar-for-dollar phaseout starting at $4,090,000 of purchases) and made 100% bonus depreciation permanent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. The two aren't interchangeable, and the order matters: §179 gives asset-by-asset control but can't exceed your business taxable income — the excess carries forward; bonus depreciation has no income limit and can create a loss, but applies by asset class. Heavy SUVs (6,000–14,000 lb GVWR) get a separate $32,000 §179 cap with bonus on the remainder. This calculator layers them correctly: your eligible cost after the business-use percentage, the §179 amount after caps and income limits, the bonus remainder, and the actual tax saved at your marginal rate.
Business owners use it before a December equipment buy: 2026 layers $2.56M of §179 (income-capped) with permanent 100% bonus depreciation (not) — a $75,000 machine nets to $48,750 after tax, and the $32,000 SUV cap and income limit are the traps.
Usually both, in that order. §179 first: you pick specific assets and exact amounts, which is how you land taxable income precisely where you want it — but it can't push you below zero (the excess carries forward to next year). Then 100% bonus depreciation clears whatever basis remains, with no income limit — it can create a loss. The classic case: $700,000 of equipment and $50,000 of income — §179 takes $50,000, bonus takes $650,000, and the business shows a loss. S-corp and partnership owners: that loss can still get suspended by basis, at-risk, or passive-loss rules on your personal return. One more wrinkle: many states don't conform to bonus depreciation, so the federal answer can be the wrong state answer.
Vehicles rated 6,000–14,000 lbs GVWR (most full-size SUVs and trucks) escape the luxury-auto caps but get their own §179 ceiling: $32,000 for 2026. An $80,000 SUV at 80% business use has $64,000 of eligible cost — §179 covers $32,000 of it and 100% bonus depreciation covers the other $32,000, so the full $64,000 still lands in year one. Vehicles under 6,000 lbs (sedans, small SUVs) are stuck with the luxury-auto limits — roughly $20k first year with bonus. Genuine work vehicles — vans, pickups with 6+ ft beds, vehicles seating 9+ — face no vehicle-specific cap at all. Business use must exceed 50%, and it's prorated: personal miles don't deduct.
Five tripwires. Placed-in-service timing: ordering in December doesn't count — the equipment must be installed and operational by December 31. The 50% business-use line: at exactly 50% or below, §179 and bonus are both gone, and dropping below 50% in a LATER year triggers recapture — the deduction comes back as income. Real property mostly doesn't qualify (though certain improvement property — roofs, HVAC, fire systems for nonresidential buildings — does). Property acquired from related parties or by gift/inheritance is excluded. And the phaseout: past $4,090,000 of purchases in one year, §179 shrinks dollar-for-dollar — at $6,650,000 it's gone, and bonus depreciation becomes the whole game.