I'm confused if the engineering software that I've purchased CAN be considered a Section 179 or not. Also, this software has significant yearly costs (over $2700 per year). So, I have two questions.
Where do I put the initial cost of very expensive, highly advanced, and specialized software, in Turbo Tax? (about $18k in my case)
Where do I put the non- trivial yearly cost of subscription/maintenance of the above software in Turbo Tax? (about $2700 per year in my case)
I use this software daily for my business clients - and could not perform services without this software.
Background: It isn't unusual at all for medium to large (engineering) companies to spend $250k or more for professional engineering software. This is VERY common with engineering firms. Typically, there is also a yearly cost of this software in addition to the initial purchase - usually 15% of the original purchase cost. Again, a non-trivial amount of money that should count as an expense or deduction of some kind.
Personally, I see this as no different than purchasing expensive equipment needed to run a business - in fact, the yearly subscription/maintenance cost IS similar to depreciation since software updates and new versions come out throughout the year. So, in practice, software does become old and costs money over time - I say, in practice there is a depreciation cost associated with professional software.
Again, I am a bit confused when reading Section 179, as well as publication 946 and publication 535 (from the irs.gov site).
If anyone has experience with deducting very expensive software then I'd like to hear from you.
Not sure if robots respond to these posts - but if I am speaking to a human please don't simply regurgitate all the stuff I've read from the irs.gov website. I'm posting here because I HAVE read these articles - yet, remain confused. Example: in Chapter 8 of the irs publication 535 - one of the criteria for software is if, "It is, or has been, readily available for purchase by the general public.". Well, I had to speak to sales person first before purchasing. It wasn't as if I merely added advanced engineering software to my shopping cart and paid for it. So, in that case, I'm not sure if the criteria is met.
Another reason I post is because there HAS to be someone out there that is actually familiar with this scenario being that it is a VERY, VERY common expense with engineering firms. So, please, I ask one more time - don't simply cut and paste the stuff I've already read from the irs.gov site.
