"every depreciable asset has depreciation recapture if sold for more than its tax basis at the time of sale (there's a gain on sale)."
That's recapture. Different kinds of depreciation change your basis, and they change the timing of when the basis is adjusted, but they don't change the overall concept.
Suppose you have an asset with a 5 year life and a cost of $25,000, and you sell it after 3 years for $12,000.
- Under section 179, it is fully depreciated in the first year, so when you sell it, you have a $12,000 gain that is treated as recapture.
- Under normal depreciation, the adjusted basis might be $10,000 after 3 years, so you have a $2000 gain that is treated as recapture.
- Under bonus depreciation, your basis is something between zero and $10,000 (I'm not expert in the rules for bonus depreciation but it will be more than straight line) so you will have some gain that is taxed as recapture.
On the other hand, suppose you sell the asset after 6 years, it's basis will be zero at that time no matter what depreciation you use, so any sales proceeds is a gain subject to recapture tax.
