You have the 2021 printouts. So this will be fairly simple. Just a lot of typing on your part, is all.
In the 2021 printout you have two form 4562's that business. They both print in landscape format. One is titled "Depreciation and Amortization Report" and is mostly likely the only one you'll need. The other is titled "Alternative Minimum Tax Depreciation" and you'll need that only if the program asks you for AMT amounts.
Refer to the first 4562 when manually entering all of your assets again. You will enter things exactly as they appear on the 2021 form 4562. There are some things that won't be the same, and I cover those now.
When entering the assets, you will of course use the original in service date as shown on the 2021 form 4562. The program (not you) will figure as best it can, the prior depreciation already taken. When it displays that prior depreciation, you can change it if necessary. But to confirm it's correct:
On the 2021 form 4562 add together the amounts in the "Prior year deprec" column and the "current year deprec" column. That total will be the total amount of prior year's depreciation already taken prior to your 2022 tax year. If what the program figures is not spot on, it will be within a few bucks, and that's fine. However, you can change it to match exactly if desired. I suggest you make it match exactly.
When done, print out the form 4562 (the landscape one) to confirm certain things match up. Columns that need to match up are:
Asset Description: Keep this identical, as it makes things easier if you ever have to refer to depreciation history, or if you get audited.
Code: Must match. If it doesn't, you selected the wrong MACRS asset type.
Date in Service: Must match. No explaining necessary.
Cost (Net of Land): Must match
Land: Must match. Will be blank for non-real estate assets.
Bus Use %: musth match, assuming the business use percentage is the same every year.
Section 179: Will be an amount in this column only on those assets you took a SEC179 deduction on. That deduction would have been taken the tax year the asset was placed in service. If there is an amount there, they must match.
Special Depreciation Allowance: Will be an amount in this column only on those assets you took the SDA deduction on. That deduction would have been taken the tax year the asset was placed in service. If there is an amount there, they must match.
Depreciable Basis: Must match. No exceptions. Period.
Life: Must match. No exceptions. Period.
Method/Convention: Must match. No exceptions. Period.
Prior Depreciation: Will not match. If the asset is still being depreciated, the amount here will be higher on the 2022 form 4562. If the asset was fully depreciated in 2021 or earlier, the amount will be the same as on the 2021 form 4562. Under no circumstances can the 2022 amount be lower than the 2021 amount shown in this column.
Current Depreciation: For assets not yet fully depreciated, this amount will be the same on the 2022 form 4562 (or within a few bucks) as it is on the 2021 from 4562. Depending on a few factors, it "could" be lower (such as if this is the last year of depreciation taken to fully depreciate the asset.) But it will never be higher.
