Will You Have a Gain or a Loss When You Change Vehicles?

If you dispose of your car, you may have a taxable gain or a deductible loss. The portion of any gain that is due to depreciation (including any section 179 or clean-fuel vehicle deduction) that you claimed on the car will be treated as ordinary income. However, you may not have to recognize a gain or loss if you dispose of the car because of a casualty, theft, or trade-in.

This section gives some general information about dispositions of cars. For information on how to report the disposition of your car, see Publication 544 on the IRS web site.

Casualty or theft. For a casualty or theft, a gain results when you receive insurance or other reimbursement that is more than your adjusted basis in your car. If you then spend all of the proceeds to acquire replacement property (a new car or repairs to the old car) within a specified period of time, you do not recognize any gain. Your basis in the replacement property is its cost minus any gain that is not recognized. See Publication 547 for more information.

Trade-in. When you trade in an old car for a new one, the transaction is considered a like-kind exchange. Generally, no gain or loss is recognized. (For exceptions, see chapter 1 of Publication 544.) In a trade-in situation, your basis in the new property is generally your adjusted basis in the old property plus any additional amount you pay. (See Unadjusted basis, earlier.)

Depreciation adjustment when you used the standard mileage rate. If you used the standard mileage rate for the business use of your car, depreciation was included in that rate. The rate of depreciation that was allowed in the standard mileage rate is shown in the chart that follows. You must reduce your basis in your car (but not below zero) by the amount of this depreciation.

These rates do not apply for any year in which the actual expenses method was used.

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For tax years before 1990, the depreciation rates apply to the first 15,000 miles. For tax years after 1989, the depreciation rates apply to all business miles.

Example. In 1994, you bought a car for exclusive use in your business. The car cost $14,000. From 1994 through 1999, you used the standard mileage rate to figure your car expense deduction. You drove your car 14,100 miles in 1994, 16,300 miles in 1995, 15,600 miles in 1996, 16,700 miles in 1997, 15,100 miles in 1998, and 14,900 miles in 1999. Your depreciation is figured as follows.

At the end of 1999, your adjusted basis in the car is $2,876 ($14,000 - $11,124).

Depreciation deduction for the year of disposition. If you deduct actual car expenses and you dispose of your car before the end of its recovery period, you are allowed a reduced depreciation deduction for the year of disposition.

To figure the reduced depreciation deduction for a car disposed of in 1999, first determine the depreciation deduction for the full year using Table 3.

If you used a Date Placed in Service line for Jan. 1--Sept. 30, you can deduct one-half of the regular depreciation amount for the year of disposition. Figure your depreciation deduction for the full year using the rules explained in this chapter and deduct 50% of that amount with your other actual car expenses.

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The Vehicle Mileage & Maintenance Record Book is designed for busy professionals like you who are tired of cheap tax information recording tools that fall apart and don't provide adequate room on forms for writing. Order one of our auto mileage logs today and start making this essential task simple and quick. Each book comes with a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!  Click here to order by using our online shopping cart, downloadable order form, or through Amazon.com.

If you used a Date Placed in Service line for Oct. 1--Dec. 31, you can deduct a percentage of the regular depreciation amount that is based on the month you disposed of the car. Figure your depreciation deduction for the full year using the rules explained in this chapter and multiply the result by the percentage from the following table for the month that you disposed of the car.

Do not use this table if you are a fiscal year filer. See Dispositions in chapter 3 of Publication 946.

Leasing a Car

If you lease a car that you use in your business, you can use the standard mileage rate or actual expenses to figure your deductible car expense. This section explains how to figure actual expenses for a leased car.

Deductible payments. You can deduct the part of each lease payment that is for the use of the car in your business. You cannot deduct any part of a lease payment that is for personal use of the car, such as commuting.

You must spread any advance payments over the entire lease period. You cannot deduct any payments you make to buy a car, even if the payments are called lease payments.

If you lease a car for 30 days or more, you may have to reduce your lease payment deduction by an "inclusion amount."

The Vehicle Mileage & Maintenance Record Book is designed for busy professionals like you who are tired of cheap tax information recording tools that fall apart and don't provide adequate room on forms for writing. Order one of our auto mileage logs today and start making this essential task simple and quick. Each book comes with a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!  Click here to order by using our online shopping cart, downloadable order form, or through Amazon.com.