Can we claim a loss for a car we use for business had $6000 of repair costs and then had to be discarded?

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

I don't know what you mean by "loss."

When you listed the car as an asset, you should have been taking depreciation all along.

If you choose to use the actual expense method, you can claim your repairs as a business expense.  If you use the mileage rate, you can't deduct your repair costs in addition to the mileage.

When you disposed of the car, treat it as a sale with a selling price of zero (unless the junkyard gave you something).  Assuming the car is properly listed as an asset in Turbotax, it will be handled correctly.

You don't get any extra "write off" -- that would be a double deduction.  You've already taken depreciation, you've already deducted your repair expenses.  You don't get anything extra for the fact that you have lost the possible future use of the car. 

[Carl]

What kind of business? Your reference to "we" indicates that it was not a sole proprietorship or single member LLC. So was this a partnership? S-Corp? C-Corp? Something else?

Who was the titled owner of the car? The business? An owner of the business? Or a third party with no financial interest or ties to the business?

What was the cost or FMV of the vehicle the first year it was placed in service for the business? (whichever is the **LOWER** amount.)

What was the business use percentage of the vehicle?

How many years was this vehicle used for business?

If the business use percentage was different every year, then how many years and what was the average business use percentage of the vehicle over those years?