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Form 4562 is really only for the first year an asset is put into service, but TurboTax does use it year after year as well as supplying a depreciation worksheet.
I assume this is done because many taxpayers that use TurboTax do not keep proper bookkeeping on their own and do not keep track of depreciation. We try to point them to the 4562 or depreciation schedule when they need to report the sale of a business asset and they don't know their adjusted basis or how much depreciation was taken.
If you use the Actual Expenses for a vehicle, depreciation will be computed based on the basis/value of the vehicle (and percentage of use if it is not a 100% business used vehicle).
If you use the Standard Milage Rate, the deduction is based on miles driven, with no regard to the value of the vehicle.
When you use the Standard Milage Rate, depreciation is not computed separately, but it part of the rate per mile. For example, the 2024 business milage rate of .67 includes .30 depreciation. The rate can change year over year.
So, for the years you use Actual Mileage, the depreciation claimed will lower the basis of the vehicle, but for the years you use the Standard Mileage rate, the basis stays the same.
When the business asset is sold, the basis need to be adjusted by subtracting the depreciation taken (or could have been taken).
The remaining basis of the vehicle on the "books" would be the same as the adjusted basis if only actual expenses were used.
If the Standard mileage rate was ever used, you need to add up that "depreciation equivalent" for the total miles claimed. That means you would need to go to each year that standard milage was used, multiply those miles by the depreciation equivalent of that year and subtract that from the original basis/cost.
When actual expenses are used, once the depreciation has zeroed out the basis, depreciation stops, there is no remaining value to depreciate.
The "depreciation equivalent" in the standard mileage rate can go on forever, so you could in theory claim 50,000 depreciation equivalent on a vehicle that cost you only 20,000.
