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New Member
posted Jan 24, 2020 8:43:20 AM

Does vehicle recapture apply when i used the standard mileage deduction on my personal car for 6 years and my reported miles are zero this year?

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3 Replies
Expert Alumni
Jan 24, 2020 9:03:38 AM

No.

 

You must recapture depreciation for your vehicle, if you sell it before it's useful life is over. If you keep it for the useful life, then your Section 179 deduction is spread over the correct amount of time.. You are done. You retired it from business use.  

Level 1
Mar 5, 2020 8:49:13 AM

How is "useful life" defined? Also, I closed my business in 2017, but kept the personal/business vehicle, then sold the vehicle in 2019. Must I report recaptured depreciation?

Expert Alumni
Mar 5, 2020 1:18:53 PM

Yes, you will need to report all depreciation taken in the years the car was in service for your business.This really has nothing to do with useful life but has everything to do with business mileage deductions that you taken while you used the vehicle for business. In those mileage deductions are built in depreciation amounts referred to as depreciation equivalents.

On page 24 of this IRS link, it addresses what the depreciation equivalents are for the past for every year since 2000, How to get the depreciation equivalent, you will multiply your total mileage for the year by the depreciation equivalent rate listed in the table. You will need to find out how many business miles were claimed in each year of  service and multiply by the rate listed for that year. Then you total up all the depreciation calculated for each year and that is the depreciation recapture you need to report.