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The Daily Insight

Do you depreciate office equipment?

Author

John Peck

Updated on March 31, 2026

Computers, office equipment, light vehicles, and construction equipment depreciate over a period of five years. Office furniture and miscellaneous assets depreciate over a period of seven years.

How many years do you depreciate office equipment?

Class life is the number of years over which an asset can be depreciated. The tax law has defined a specific class life for each type of asset. Real Property is 39 year property, office furniture is 7 year property and autos and trucks are 5 year property. See Publication 946, How to Depreciate Property.

What equipment can be depreciated?

If you’re wondering what can be depreciated, you can depreciate most types of tangible property such as buildings, equipment vehicles, machinery and furniture. You can also depreciate certain intangible property such as patents, copyrights and computer software, according to the IRS.

How do you depreciate equipment in accounting?

Straight-Line Method

  1. Subtract the asset’s salvage value from its cost to determine the amount that can be depreciated.
  2. Divide this amount by the number of years in the asset’s useful lifespan.
  3. Divide by 12 to tell you the monthly depreciation for the asset.

What is the depreciation rate for office equipment?

Part A Tangible Assets:

Asset TypeRate of Depreciation
Purely temporary erections like wooden structures40%
Furniture and fittings including electrical fittings10%
Plant and machinery excluding those covered by sub-items (2), (3) and (8) below15%

How much can you depreciate equipment?

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 is a law that allows you to depreciate 100 percent of the cost of new equipment in the first year you purchase it and take off an additional 50 percent in the second year of its use.

How do you depreciate farm equipment?

MACRS Depreciation The Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) method of depreciation enables you to depreciate farm equipment anywhere from 3 up to 25 years. Most farm equipment is depreciated using the 150 percent declining balance method.

How do I calculate depreciation on equipment?