Free tool · 2026 tax year
What that machine really costs after the write-off.
Section 179 and bonus depreciation cut a six figure machine down hard. Put in your numbers. See the write-off, the first year tax savings, and what the machine really costs you.
Tax figures on this page were verified as of August 2026 against IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and IRS Notice 2026-11. Tax law changes. Confirm every number with your CPA before you buy.
PHASE-OUT ACTIVE.
First year tax savings
Type in the machine price and your number shows up here.
So the machine really costs you
This is the price minus what you keep.
How the write-off stacks up
Read this before you act on it. TrueSpark Financial does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. These estimates are illustrative only and depend on facts specific to your business, including your taxable income, your entity type, your state, and what else you buy this year. Confirm everything with your CPA before you buy.
The part most contractors miss
Pay cash or finance it
The deduction is based on the full price of the machine. It does not care how much you have paid. You write off the whole thing this year after only a few payments.
Pay cash
Money leaves todayFinance it
Add your rate and paymentsType in a machine price to see the comparison.
The other side of it. Financing this deal costs real interest across the term. Type in your rate and your payments to see how much. This compares first year cash only. It is not the total cost of owning the machine.
The rules behind the math
Every number here comes from the IRS.
No rounded-off blog figures. These are the 2026 amounts, straight out of the revenue procedure and the interim guidance. Links at the bottom, so you can check us.
Section 179 limit
$2,560,000
The most you can expense under Section 179 for a tax year beginning in 2026. Set by IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.24. It goes up with inflation each year.
Phase-out threshold
$4,090,000
Add up everything you place in service this year. Every dollar over $4,090,000 cuts your $2,560,000 limit by a dollar. Hit $6,650,000 and Section 179 is gone completely.
Bonus depreciation has no phase-out. That is why the tool still shows a big write-off even when Section 179 zeroes out.
Bonus depreciation
100%, permanent
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, set bonus depreciation at 100% and made it permanent for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025. There is no scheduled step-down anymore.
Where sources disagree. Some sites still publish 40% or 20% for 2026. That is the old phase-down schedule. It only still applies to equipment you locked under a written binding contract signed before January 20, 2025. Pick the 20% option in the tool if that is your situation. For anything you buy today, the rate is 100%.
Used iron qualifies
Both deductions
Used equipment qualifies for Section 179 and for bonus depreciation. A used excavator is treated the same as a new one.
Two catches on the bonus side. You cannot have used the machine before you bought it, and you cannot buy it from a related party. A private party or auction purchase from an unrelated seller is fine.
Placed in service, not paid for
By Dec 31
The machine has to be ready and available for use by the last day of your tax year. Not ordered. Not paid off. Ready to work.
A dozer sitting on your yard on December 30, ready to run, counts. A dozer still on the truck in January does not, even if you paid in November.
Section 179 stops at your income
Cannot create a loss
Your Section 179 deduction cannot be more than the taxable income from your active business. Anything over that gets carried forward to a future year. It is not lost, it is just delayed.
Bonus depreciation works differently. It can push you into a loss. This is a real reason to talk to your CPA about which one to lean on.
- Section 179 limits for 2026: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.24 · irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- 100% bonus depreciation, permanent: IRS news release IR-2026-06, January 14, 2026 · irs.gov newsroom, additional first year depreciation guidance
- Bonus depreciation interim guidance: IRS Notice 2026-11 · irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-26-11.pdf
- Order of operations, placed in service, income limit: IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property · irs.gov/publications/p946
- Used property and bonus depreciation: IRS Additional First Year Depreciation Deduction FAQ · irs.gov newsroom, bonus depreciation FAQ
Expect zero sugarcoating
Three things that can shrink your real number.
Most calculators show you the big number and stop. Here is what can pull it back down, so nothing surprises you in April.
Your state may not play along
Plenty of states cap Section 179 far below the federal limit or refuse bonus depreciation entirely. The state savings line in this tool is a best case. Ask your CPA what your state actually allows before you count on it.
The fourth quarter rule
Put more than 40% of your year's equipment in service in the last three months and you may be forced onto the mid-quarter convention instead of the half-year one. That changes the MACRS piece. It does not touch Section 179 or bonus.
Selling early costs you
Write a machine off fast, then sell it or pull it out of the business, and the IRS can recapture part of that deduction as income. Trading iron every two years changes this math. Plan the exit before you plan the write-off.
This is an estimate, not tax advice.
TrueSpark Financial does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. We are a commercial finance company. We are not your CPA, your attorney, or your tax preparer, and nothing on this page creates that relationship.
Every figure this tool produces is illustrative only. It is generated from the numbers you typed in, using simplified assumptions: 5 year MACRS property under the half-year convention, a single asset, a full year federal rate applied flat, and 100% financing of the purchase price. Your actual result depends on facts specific to your business, including your entity type, your taxable income, your state, your fiscal year, what else you place in service, how the equipment is used, and how long you keep it.
The tax figures shown were verified as of August 2026 against IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 and IRS Notice 2026-11. Tax law and inflation adjustments change. Do not rely on this page for a purchase decision or a tax filing. Confirm everything with your CPA before you buy.
Payment, rate and term figures are sample numbers only. They are not a quote, an offer, or a commitment to lend. All financing is subject to credit approval, and your actual pricing depends on credit profile, time in business, revenue, equipment type and state.
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