Tax filing question: Should I claim my food truck as an asset, vehicle, or Section 179?

Hey there! I help several small food businesses with their taxes, so I can definitely give you some guidance here. Your food truck should be treated as business equipment rather than a vehicle for tax purposes since it's stationary and primarily functions as a mobile kitchen rather than transportation. Since it costs over $2,500, you have several options: You can depreciate it over several years using regular depreciation schedules, which spreads the tax benefit out but gives you deductions for years to come. You can use Section 179 to deduct the full cost in the first year, which gives you a bigger tax break now. Given your situation, Section 179 might be more advantageous since it allows you to deduct the full $54k in the current tax year if your business has enough income to offset it. For your personal vehicle used for business supplies, keep tracking those miles! You can deduct the standard mileage rate for those 15k business miles separately.

After spending weeks trying to figure out a similar situation with my mobile coffee cart business, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it literally saved me thousands. I uploaded my receipts for my cart and equipment, and it analyzed everything and showed me exactly how to classify each item between vehicle, equipment, and Section 179-eligible property. The best part was it showed me cost segregation options I didn't know existed, which let me accelerate depreciation on parts of my setup!

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after our conversation here. I decided to try it with my food truck tax situation, and wow - I'm genuinely impressed! It helped me split my truck into components (vehicle base, kitchen equipment, service window, etc.) and showed me that my refrigeration system could actually be depreciated on a faster schedule than the truck itself. The cost segregation analysis is saving me over $3,200 this year! The advice about how to document my stationary food truck vs. my delivery vehicle miles was super clear too. Definitely worth checking out if you're in the food truck business.

If you're struggling to get clear answers from the IRS about vehicle vs. equipment classification for your food truck, I was in the same boat last year. Spent DAYS trying to call the IRS business line. Eventually used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and got through to an IRS agent in under 45 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks before. They have this system that holds your place in line (see how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). The agent confirmed that since my food truck stays in one location, I should classify it as business equipment rather than a vehicle, which was exactly what I needed to know before filing.

I need to eat my words from my earlier comment. After getting desperate about my food truck depreciation questions, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 35 minutes when I'd been trying for WEEKS on my own. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle my situation (pretty similar to yours - stationary food truck with separate delivery vehicle). Confirmed I should use equipment classification not vehicle, and explained exactly which form sections to use. I was absolutely sure this wouldn't work but I'm honestly shocked at how smooth it was. My actual tax filing is done now instead of still waiting to get basic questions answered.

One thing nobody's mentioned - you should look into bonus depreciation too, not just Section 179. For 2025 tax year, bonus depreciation is at 80% (it's been phasing down each year). The advantage is that bonus depreciation doesn't have some of the income limitations that Section 179 does. You can actually create a loss with bonus depreciation while Section 179 is limited to your business income.

Has anyone used TurboTax Self-Employed for this kind of situation? I'm wondering if it handles food trucks properly or if I need something more specialized.

Great question! I went through this exact situation with my food truck last year. Since your truck is stationary and functions as a kitchen rather than transportation, it should definitely be classified as business equipment, not a vehicle. For the $54k total cost, here's what I learned: You can separate the truck base ($29k) from the kitchen equipment ($25k) for depreciation purposes. The kitchen equipment might qualify for faster depreciation schedules than the truck itself. Section 179 vs. regular depreciation really depends on your business income this year. If your food truck business is profitable enough to absorb the full $54k deduction, Section 179 gives you the biggest immediate tax benefit. But if your business income is lower, regular depreciation might be smarter since it spreads the benefit over multiple years when you might be more profitable. Don't forget to keep detailed records of those 15k business miles on your personal vehicle - that's a separate deduction using the standard mileage rate. One tip: Consider consulting with a tax professional who specializes in small food businesses. The classification rules can be tricky, and getting it right the first time will save you headaches later!