topic How do I elect depreciation for a car I purchased in 2025 and used only for business. The prompts only allow for actual mileage or actual expense without depreciation in Deductions & credits

How do I elect depreciation for a car I purchased in 2025 and used only for business. The prompts only allow for actual mileage or actual expense without depreciation

mark — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 17:29:25 GMT

Re: How do I elect depreciation for a car I purchased in 2025 and used only for business. The pro...

LeticiaF1 — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:39:58 GMT

Vehicle depreciation only applies when you are using actual expenses. Actual expenses include fuel, maintenance, repairs, tires, insurance, registration fees, licenses, or lease payments. ‌You can only claim a portion of the expenses that are business-related.

To enter your vehicle expense in TurboTax, go to your Schedule C, and navigate to the Business Expenses. You will need to enter the vehicle in the Assets/Depreciation or you can enter it in the vehicle mileage section and here you would need to select actual expenses. You will need to enter the cost, the date you started using the vehicle for business, your mileage.

As you enter the information in TurboTax the program will help you decide which method is more advantageous for you. See the following TurboTax help articles for more information:

Business Use of Vehicles

Re: How do I elect depreciation for a car I purchased in 2025 and used only for business. The pro...

mark — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:41:54 GMT

Seeking clarification: Specific steps to trigger the $20,200 (280F) Luxury Auto Limit in TurboTax for 2025

The previous response mentions navigating to Schedule C > Business Expenses, but it doesn't address the specific technical "hang-up" I'm finding regarding the $20,200 first-year depreciation limit.

Under IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-16, the first-year depreciation limit for a passenger automobile (under 6,000 lbs GVWR) placed in service in 2025 is $20,200 if bonus depreciation is claimed (otherwise it is $12,200).

The issue: When I enter my vehicle details under "Actual Expenses," the program is not clearly presenting the election for the additional $8,000 bonus depreciation that reaches that $20,200 cap.

Can someone confirm the following technical steps?

Vehicle Weight: Does the program only trigger this cap if the vehicle is categorized as a "Passenger Car" (under 6,000 lbs)?
The "Special Depreciation" Screen: Where exactly is the screen to elect the "Special Depreciation Allowance"? Is it found within the "Vehicle" interview or must I go to the "Assets/Depreciation" section separately to manually enter the vehicle as a 5-year asset?
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) Impact: Since bonus depreciation was restored to 100% for assets acquired after January 19, 2025, is TurboTax 2025 updated to handle this change automatically based on the "Date Placed in Service"?

I am using the vehicle 100% for business, so I should qualify for the full amount. Any guidance on which specific screen "forces" the program to apply the $8,000 bonus on top of the $12,200 base limit would be greatly appreciated.

Re: How do I elect depreciation for a car I purchased in 2025 and used only for business. The pro...

MonikaK1 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 04:24:07 GMT

You can enter the purchase of the vehicle in Business Expenses, Business Vehicle Expenses. If you go directly to the Assets section, the program will present a list of assets that doesn't include vehicles.

Depending on the information you enter, the program may suggest that you use mileage instead of actual expenses and depreciation. Choose the option when presented that you want to see the results of using actual. More questions will appear where you can choose to take the bonus deduction.

See this TurboTax tips article for more information.

@mark