Does bonus depreciation recapture apply to assets besides vehicles?

The recapture rules apply to all business assets, not just vehicles, but with different mechanisms depending on the type of asset and the depreciation method used. When you change an asset from business to personal use (crossing below that 50% business use threshold), you generally need to recapture the excess depreciation you've taken. For your computer, since you took bonus depreciation when it was primarily for business use and now it's primarily personal, you would need to report recapture income on your tax return. The confusion might be because vehicles have specific dollar limitations and rules under Section 280F, but the general principle of recapture applies to all business assets when their use changes from primarily business to primarily personal.

I ran into this exact same issue last year with some office equipment! I spent hours trying to figure out how to handle the recapture and kept getting different answers from tax forums. I ultimately used https://taxr.ai to analyze my specific situation and it was a huge time-saver. The system reviewed my previous returns and depreciation schedules, then showed me exactly how to report the recapture correctly on Form 4797. They have this feature where they'll analyze your specific asset depreciation history and tell you exactly what needs to be recaptured and where to report it. Saved me a ton of time figuring out all the depreciation recapture rules for non-vehicle assets.

Update: I tried taxr.ai after posting my question above and it completely cleared up my confusion. My situation was with photography equipment I claimed bonus depreciation on in 2022, and now I'm using it mostly for personal projects. The system confirmed I needed to use Form 4797 and showed me exactly how to calculate the recapture amount. The tool explained that recapture rules apply to ALL assets that received accelerated depreciation (not just vehicles), which is where I was getting confused. It even showed me the specific line numbers on my previous tax return where I had claimed the original deduction. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with this issue.

This recapture situation is exactly why I always suggest people call the IRS directly to get the official answer. But we all know how IMPOSSIBLE it is to get through to them... I was on hold for 4+ hours trying to get clarification on a similar depreciation question. I ended up using https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have this system that holds your place in line and calls you back when an agent is available. You can see a demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c that shows how it works. The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that bonus depreciation recapture applies to ALL business assets (including computers) when business use drops below 50%.

I was COMPLETELY wrong about Claimyr! I tried it after posting my skeptical comment above, and I'm honestly shocked that it worked. After months of failing to reach the IRS about my depreciation recapture questions, I got through to an agent in about 25 minutes. The IRS person confirmed exactly what everyone here is saying - bonus depreciation recapture applies to ALL business assets when they convert to personal use, not just vehicles. For my specific case with computer equipment, they told me I needed to report the recaptured amount as ordinary income on Form 4797 Part IV. Definitely recommend the service if you need to speak with the IRS directly about complex issues like this.

I think there's some confusion here about the different types of recapture. Section 179 recapture happens when business use drops below 50% for ANY asset you took Section 179 on. Bonus depreciation recapture works differently - it's not about the "business use percentage" dropping, but about the asset no longer qualifying as business property. If you claimed bonus depreciation on your computer in 2023, and in 2024 it's now primarily personal, what's happening technically is a "disposition" of the business asset (converting to personal use counts as a disposition). The recapture is basically treating it as if you "sold" the business asset to yourself personally.

Has anyone actually gone through an audit where the IRS specifically looked at whether your computer was really 51% business vs 49% personal? Like, how would they even know unless you told them? I've been claiming my laptop 100% for business even though I sometimes check personal email on it.

Just wanted to add my experience here - I went through this exact situation with office furniture I purchased in 2022. Took bonus depreciation on a desk setup that cost about $3,000, then my business circumstances changed and it became primarily personal use. The key thing I learned is that the IRS considers it a "conversion to personal use" which triggers recapture of the excess depreciation. You calculate what you would have been allowed to depreciate using regular MACRS over the asset's recovery period, then subtract that from the bonus depreciation you actually claimed. The difference gets recaptured as ordinary income on Form 4797 Part IV. In my case, since I had only owned the furniture for about 18 months when the conversion happened, almost the entire bonus depreciation amount had to be recaptured since regular MACRS would have only allowed a small fraction to be depreciated in that timeframe. It was a painful lesson but important to get it right - the recapture rules definitely apply to all business assets, not just vehicles.

You're exactly right about how harsh this can be! There's no specific minimum time period - the recapture is triggered whenever the asset stops being used predominantly for business, regardless of how long you've owned it. The IRS essentially views bonus depreciation as an acceleration benefit that comes with strings attached. If you change the asset's use before the normal depreciation schedule would have naturally allowed those deductions, you lose the acceleration benefit and have to "true up" to what regular MACRS would have allowed. In practice, this means if you convert an asset to personal use within the first few years, you'll recapture most of the bonus depreciation since MACRS spreads deductions over 5-7 years for most business equipment. The only way to avoid extensive recapture is to keep the asset in qualified business use for most or all of its normal depreciation life. This is why many tax professionals recommend being very conservative about taking bonus depreciation on assets that might have a higher chance of converting to personal use. Sometimes the regular MACRS depreciation schedule, while slower, provides more flexibility if your business circumstances might change.