Section 179 Decoded

Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased or financed during the tax year. That means that if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the FULL PURCHASE PRICE from your gross income.


The purpose behind Section 179 - to motivate the American economy (and your business) to move in a positive direction. For most businesses (adding total equipment, software, and vehicles totaling less than $139,000 in 2012), the entire cost can be written-off on the 2012 tax return.

The total amount written off ($139,000 in 2012), and limits to the total amount of the equipment purchased ($560,000 in 2012). The deduction begins to phase out dollar-for-dollar after $560,000 is spent.

All businesses that purchase, finance, and/or lease less than $560,000 in new or used business equipment during tax year 2012 should qualify for the Section 179 Deduction. If a business is unprofitable in 2012, and has no taxable income to use the deduction, that business can elect to use 50% Bonus Depreciation and carry-forward to a year when the business is profitable.

The most important difference is both new and used equipment qualify for the Section 179 Deduction. Bonus Depreciation covers new equipment only. 

The equipment, vehicle(s), and/or software must be used for business purposes more than 50% of the time to qualify for the Section 179 Deduction. Simply multiply the cost of the equipment, vehicle(s), and/or software by the percentage of business-use to arrive at the monetary amount eligible for Section 179.

2012 Deduction Limit = $139,000 For new and used equipment, as well as off-the-shelf software.

2012 Limit on equipment purchases = $560,000 This is the maximum amount that can be spent on equipment before the Section 179 Deduction available to your company begins to be reduced.

Bonus Depreciation = 50% This is taken after the $560k limit in capital equipment purchases is reached.   Bonus Depreciation is available for new equipment only. Bonus Depreciation can also be taken by businesses that will have net operating losses in 2012.

Contact us for a bid on your capital purchase before year end.   Don’t miss out on Section 179 deductions and Bonus Depreciation 801 816 0800

Benefits of Equipment Leasing

Advantages of Leasing Equipment

The primary advantage of leasing business equipment is that it allows you to acquire assets with minimal initial expenditures. Because equipment leases rarely require a down payment, you can obtain the goods you need without significantly affecting your cash flow. 

Another financial benefit of leasing equipment is that your lease payments can usually be deducted as business expenses on your tax return, reducing the net cost of your lease. In addition, leases are usually easier to obtain and have more flexible terms than loans for buying equipment. This can be a significant advantage if you have bad credit or need to negotiate a longer payment plan to lower your costs.

Leasing also allows businesses to address the problem of obsolescence. If you use your lease to attain items that are subject to becoming technologically outdated in a short period of time, such as computers or other high-tech equipment, a lease passes the burden of obsolescence onto the lessor, as you are free to lease new, higher-end equipment after your lease expires.

Mazuma Capital (Equipment Lease & Financing/Direct Lending) - Draper, UT...

Companies to lose equipment-finance tax breaks in 2012

Two generous tax breaks small-business owners received during the recession are going to shrink dramatically in 2012. That makes year-end tax planning more important than usual.

The changes affect the deductions for purchases of equipment. One is called the Section 179 deduction, named for a provision of the Internal Revenue Code. The other is called bonus depreciation. Congress approved the breaks to make it easier for small businesses to expand and hire workers. Although the economy is still slow, the breaks are being scaled back.

Ed Smith, a tax partner at the accounting and consulting firm BDO in Boston, says he's talking with clients about whether it makes sense to buy equipment before the changes take effect.

"Understand that we're not going to have this deduction in the next couple of years," he said.

The Section 179 deduction allows a small business to deduct upfront rather than depreciate the cost of equipment, such as computers, vehicles, machines in manufacturing, office furniture and sheds.

The deduction for 2011 is $500,000. In 2012, it will drop to $125,000. And in 2013, it's expected to fall to $25,000 — the amount it was back in 2002.

Bonus depreciation allows small businesses to take a deduction for equipment expenses beyond the amount allowed under Section 179. For 2011, the bonus depreciation is 100 percent. The maximum that can be deducted under the two deductions combined is $2 million. In 2012, bonus depreciation drops to 50 percent.

Under normal depreciation rules, the cost of equipment is deducted over a number of years according to a formula set by the IRS. So the Section 179 and bonus depreciation provisions have given small businesses accelerated tax savings.

You can learn more about the deductions in IRS Publication 946, "How to Depreciate Property." It goes into detail about the deductions and the regulations that govern how they can be taken. For example, the Section 179 deduction can't be used for your new heating and air conditioning unit. But that equipment can be depreciated.

It's also a good idea to discuss your plans with an accountant or tax attorney.

Changes in the tax law shouldn't be the biggest reason for buying equipment. Deductions aren't worth it if you're wasting your money on something your business doesn't need. But if you've been debating whether to buy tablet computers for your employees or install manufacturing equipment in 2011 or in 2012, it might make sense to move the purchase into this year. If you can get a better price than you would next year, that's another reason to buy now.

A big caveat: The equipment has to be up and running by Dec. 31. You can't order a new server or drill press this year, have it delivered in January and still take the deduction. You have to be able to use it — which means it needs to be installed — by the end of the year. However, it's OK if you don't pay for the equipment until next year, or if you're going to take several years to pay it off.

Something else to think about is whether you want to take advantage of these deductions now. You're not required to use Section 179 and bonus depreciation. In fact, you need to elect to take a Section 179 deduction when you file IRS Form 4562, "Depreciation and Amortization."

Depending on what your profits look like this year, and what they're likely to be in the coming years, you might prefer to use regular depreciation. So you might want to postpone your purchase until next year.

Smith says the money owners will save on their taxes from Section 179 and bonus depreciation can help them pay for the equipment they've bought. But using these deductions will eliminate any tax savings you would have had from depreciating equipment over time. Smith points out that when equipment is depreciated under regular rules, the tax savings from that can be used to cover principal payments if the equipment was financed. And the interest on financing is deductible.

Again, it's a good idea to consult a tax professional to decide which approach makes the most sense for your business. Source http://www.modbee.com/2011/10/26/v-print/1919770/tax-breaks-on-business-equipment.html

Equipment Leasing Slowly Rising

U.S. business borrowing for equipment up in Sept.

Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. companies borrowed more to buy or lease capital equipment in September and did a better job of keeping up to date on their existing debts, boosting a key measure of business activity, a lender group said on Monday.

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association said U.S. businesses originated $7.1 billion in new loans, leases and lines of credit last month, up from $5.7 billion in August.

Companies use that money to invest in everything from tool-and-die machines and delivery trucks to office furniture and computer software.

"It's a replacement environment," ELFA President William Sutton said in a phone interview. "People aren't in a growth or expansion mode."

Demand for finance was up in the agriculture, healthcare and information technology sectors, Sutton said. The construction and trucking sectors remained weak.

The group, which represents the lenders who finance half the capital investment in the United States each year, said 2.3 percent of borrowers were 30 days or more behind in paying their debts, down from 2.5 percent in August and the lowest reading since late 2006, before the recession.

ELFA's confidence index rose to 50.7 in October, up from 47.6 in September. The diffusion index centers around 50, with any reading above that point positive and one below negative.

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/24/usa-economy-elfa-idUSN1E79N0JS20111024