Asset Depreciation Calculator

Enter the cost of the asset and, for a building, the value of the land under it. Land is never depreciable, so the calculator subtracts it to get the depreciable basis. Then enter the date the asset was placed in service and choose its property class. The class sets the recovery period, the method and the convention, so every schedule follows a valid combination of rules.

For improvements and personal property you can also choose the convention and a bonus depreciation percentage. The schedule, chart and totals update as you go.

Every input is kept in the page address, so Copy link gives you a link that rebuilds this exact schedule. Nothing is stored on our servers. Download PDF creates a report in your browser with the schedule, your assumptions and a link back to the live calculation.

Under MACRS (the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System, used for property placed in service since 1987), the class of the property decides everything else. The classes that matter most in real estate:

Declining balance methods switch to straight line in the year straight line gives the larger deduction, exactly as the IRS tables do. If your situation is not listed, choose Custom and set the method, life and convention yourself. Custom schedules are labeled as such on the page and in the PDF.

A convention decides how much of the first year's depreciation you get, regardless of the exact day the asset went into service.

• Mid-month applies to residential rental and nonresidential real property. The asset is treated as placed in service in the middle of its month, so a building placed in service in March gets 9.5 months of depreciation in the first year.
• Half-year is the default for improvements and personal property. The asset gets half a year of depreciation in its first year, whatever the month.
• Mid-quarter replaces the half-year convention when more than 40% of the depreciable basis of all property you placed in service during the year went into service in the last three months. Buildings (residential rental and nonresidential real property) are left out of that test. The test covers everything you placed in service that year, not just this asset, so the calculator lets you choose the convention rather than guessing.

The same convention also applies in the year you sell or dispose of the asset. This calculator shows the full schedule as if the asset is held to the end of its recovery period.

Bonus depreciation lets you deduct a percentage of the basis of qualifying property in the first year, on top of regular depreciation on what is left. It applies to MACRS property with a recovery period of 20 years or less, including qualified improvement property. It does not apply to buildings or to property that must use ADS.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, made 100% bonus depreciation permanent for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. Property acquired on or before that date stays under the earlier phase-down: 40% if placed in service in 2025, 20% in 2026 and none after that. Earlier years: 100% for property acquired after September 27, 2017 and placed in service through 2022, then 80% in 2023 and 60% in 2024.

You can elect out of bonus depreciation for any class of property in a given year, which is why the calculator lets you choose the percentage. Many states, including California, do not follow federal bonus depreciation, so a state schedule can differ from the federal one.

Only the building and its improvements wear out, so only they are depreciable. When you buy a property, the price has to be split between land and building. Common ways to make the split are the ratio on the county property tax assessment, an appraisal, or a cost segregation study, which also separates out the shorter-lived 5-, 7- and 15-year property.

Depreciable basis generally starts with the purchase price plus acquisition costs, less the land value. After a like-kind exchange the basis carries over from the property you gave up, which this calculator does not compute.

Depreciation lowers your tax basis, so it comes back into play when you sell. The Cumulative column shows the depreciation taken through any year, which is the starting point for figuring recapture.

• For 5-, 7- and other personal property (Section 1245 property), depreciation is generally taxed as ordinary income to the extent of the gain.
• For buildings depreciated straight line, the gain attributable to depreciation (unrecaptured Section 1250 gain) is taxed at a maximum federal rate of 25%.
• Depreciation taken faster than straight line on real property improvements, including bonus depreciation, can be recaptured as ordinary income.

The full after-tax picture of a sale, including recapture, capital gains and suspended losses, is what the planEASe investment analysis computes.

This is the web version of the Asset Depreciation utility in the planEASe desktop software, with the same calculations. The calculator computes each year exactly from the method, life and convention, then rounds to cents or whole dollars. The final year absorbs any rounding so the schedule always totals the depreciable basis.

The IRS percentage tables in Publication 946 are rounded to two or three decimals, and the rounding is adjusted so each table adds to 100%. This calculator reproduces those tables to within their rounding, so a schedule from tax software that applies the table percentages can differ by a few dollars in some years. For example, the 7-year table shows 8.93% in year 5 where the exact figure is 8.92%.

The % of basis column shows each year's deduction as a percentage of the depreciable basis, so you can compare it directly with the IRS tables.

It covers the common MACRS classes and bonus depreciation for U.S. federal tax. It does not handle Section 179 expensing, vehicle depreciation limits, disaster-area and other special zone rules, short tax years, the alternative minimum tax, state depreciation rules, or the year of sale. For special situations, use Custom and confirm the result with your tax advisor.

This calculator is a planning tool, not tax advice.