New to me Car depreciation

[bge3rd]

For my 2020 taxes... I bought a used truck in March 2020 and used it for work and I beleive I should be able to fully depreciate it in the first year as it is over 6,000 lbs but when I use turbo tax it is trying to use the mileage method instead.  What might be causing this?

[ColeenD3]

Yes, you should be able to fully depreciate it the first year but there are several things to look out for.

• Make sure you did not press "lease" instead of purchase.
• You will be asked for your mileage regardless of whether you choose standard mileage or actual expenses.
• Make sure you actually selected actual expenses. See the screenshot below.
• The program will tell you if the standard mileage gives you a better advantage.

[bge3rd]

Thank you but no matter what I do it takes the mileage expense, which is less than the actual expenses and purchase price.  Any ideas?  Is it possible the software has a glitch?

[JamesG1]

In TurboTax Home & Business I am able to claim actual vehicle expenses.

At the screen How much do you want to deduct for the business use of this vehicle?, I was able to select I'll take the special depreciation allowance.

At the screen You get a bigger deduction by using your actual expenses, I was able to select No, I'll stick with the deduction I got from entering my actual expenses.

Are you able to access these screens?

[bge3rd]

Neither of those screens are visible to me.

[ThomasM125]

@bge3rd You need to choose the mileage or actual expenses method in the year you place the vehicle in service. So, in the next year the program will automatically default to the same method chosen originally. If you took the actual expenses in the first year and TurboTax is defaulting to the mileage method in the second year, I suggest you make note of the cost, accumulated depreciation, special depreciation allowances taken, date the vehicle was put into service and any other pertinent information regarding the vehicle, and then delete the vehicle and re-enter it in the current year. You will be asked to enter the pertinent information to allow for the vehicle to be properly recorded and depreciated going forward.