How to properly write off a laptop for my LLC - tax deduction questions

I'm a tax consultant who works with small businesses, and I can clear this up for you. 1. When you "write off" your laptop, you're deducting the business expense from your gross income, which reduces your taxable income dollar for dollar. So a $1050 deduction means your taxable income is reduced by $1050. This isn't the same as tax savings though - your actual tax savings would be that amount multiplied by your marginal tax rate. In your example with a 24% tax bracket, a $1050 deduction would save you about $252 in taxes. 2. You actually have options here. For a laptop, you can: - Expense it all at once using Section 179 (which allows for immediate deduction of qualified business purchases) - Take bonus depreciation (currently at 80% for 2025) - Depreciate it over 5 years (the standard period for computers) Most small business owners prefer Section 179 for immediate write-off, but if you expect higher income in future years, depreciation might be more beneficial.

I had a similar situation last year and found taxr.ai super helpful for figuring out exactly how to handle my business equipment purchases. I was so confused about Section 179 and depreciation options, and my receipts were a mess. I uploaded my laptop receipt and some other business purchases to https://taxr.ai and their system analyzed everything and showed me the optimal way to handle each item for tax purposes. It even helped me figure out how to document my business use percentage for items I occasionally used personally. Saved me hours of research and probably prevented some costly mistakes!

Coming back to say I tried taxr.ai after seeing this thread and it was incredibly helpful! I uploaded receipts for my laptop, second monitor, and office chair, along with some info about my business use, and got really clear guidance on Section 179 vs. depreciation for each item. They showed me how different approaches would impact my taxes this year vs. future years. Ended up saving about $430 more than I would have with my original plan. The visualization tools made it super easy to understand the tax implications of each option. Definitely recommend for anyone with business equipment purchases!

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Don't forget to check if your state has different rules for business asset depreciation than federal. I deducted my laptop using Section 179 on federal, but my state has limitations on immediate expensing and required me to depreciate it. Caused me a headache when my state return got flagged.

Also important - make sure you're tracking business use vs. personal use! If you're using that laptop 70% for business and 30% for Netflix, you can only deduct 70% of the cost. IRS isn't stupid and this is a common audit trigger for home-based businesses.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the record-keeping aspect beyond just business use percentage. Make sure you keep the original receipt, warranty information, and any documentation showing when you placed the laptop into service for your business. The IRS wants to see the date you started using it for business purposes, not just when you bought it. Also, if you're planning to use Section 179, there's an income limitation - you can't deduct more than your business's taxable income for the year. So if your LLC only made $500 profit this year, you couldn't take the full $1050 Section 179 deduction. The unused portion would carry forward to next year though. For what it's worth, most small businesses I know go with Section 179 for items like laptops since the immediate deduction helps with cash flow, but definitely consider your overall tax situation and expected future income when making the choice.