Why did section 179 deduction increase my tax due amount

[jkgvharden]

I am trying to see if I can use turbo tax instead of the accountant I've had. His mistakes are costing me money. I did not understand my taxes and I need to do better.)
I am entering the cost of a stove top in my rental unit. purchased and placed in service July 2021. Cost $1259.
If I elect the full section 179 my taxes due are $9,761, however my taxes due goes DOWN if I elect to spread it over 5 years. With the depreciation it shows I owe $9,662.
I thought I bigger deduction would lower my liability?

[AnnetteB6 · Accepted solution]

In general, you would expect a larger deduction to lower your tax liability.  However, there are certain circumstances where that might not be the case.  

For example, if your rental property has an overall gain and you are claiming the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction, then using section 179 to claim the total cost of the stovetop is reducing your overall gain and your QBI deduction.  Therefore, your balance due is higher because the QBI deduction is lower.

Depreciating the stovetop does not reduce your overall gain as much and therefore the QBI deduction would be higher than in the section 179 calculation, thus resulting in a lower balance due.