Tax implications of buying a truck for my small business LLC

You've got options here, but you need to understand the trade-offs. When you purchase a vehicle for business, you can either take the actual expenses (purchase costs, insurance, maintenance, etc.) OR the standard mileage deduction - but not both. If you truly use the truck 100% for business (never for personal errands or commuting), you can deduct the business portion of the actual expenses, including depreciation. For a heavy SUV or truck over 6,000 lbs, you might even qualify for Section 179 expensing, which could let you deduct a significant portion of the cost in year one. However, that "100% business use" claim is exactly what can trigger IRS attention. They know most people use vehicles for both business and personal purposes, so claiming 100% business use is a red flag. You'll need immaculate records to back up your claim. The simpler approach is often the standard mileage rate (65.5 cents per mile for 2025). You'd track business miles and take that deduction, which requires less record-keeping and is less likely to raise eyebrows. Keep in mind that even with standard mileage, you'll still need a mileage log with dates, destinations, and business purpose for each trip.

After struggling with almost this exact situation with my landscaping business, I found this website called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that analyzes your business receipts and documentation to help prevent audit triggers. I was worried about claiming my truck as 100% business use, but they helped me organize my documentation properly. Their system analyzed my business structure and expenses, then showed me exactly what documentation I needed for vehicle expenses to stay compliant. It actually flagged some items I was recording incorrectly that could have been audit triggers. The truck deduction was significant for my business, and having proper documentation ready made me feel much more confident about claiming it correctly.

Just wanted to follow up that I finally checked out taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here. Their vehicle expense analyzer actually helped me decide between leasing vs buying for my catering business trucks. The documentation system flagged that my record keeping wasn't sufficient for claiming 100% business use, which probably saved me from making a big mistake. The thing that surprised me most was how they broke down exactly which portions of my vehicle expenses were deductible based on my business type and usage patterns. Much more specific guidance than my accountant gave me last year. Definitely recommend if you're making vehicle decisions for a small business.

After trying to get through to the IRS for THREE WEEKS to ask questions about business vehicle purchases (kept getting disconnected or 2+ hour wait times), I finally used this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with gave me official guidance on my situation with buying a truck for my contractor business. Got clarity on Section 179 deduction limits for my specific vehicle type and weight class, plus documentation requirements. Completely worth it to get answers straight from the source instead of guessing or relying on outdated blog posts.

Need to eat my words here. After struggling for days trying to get clarification on vehicle deductions for my business, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got through to an IRS business tax specialist in 15 minutes who answered all my questions about Section 179 deductions for my truck purchase. Found out I can actually deduct a much larger portion than I thought in the first year since my truck qualifies as over 6,000 lbs GVWR. The agent walked me through exactly which form to use and what documentation to keep. Saved me from making an $8,000 mistake on my taxes and wasted fewer hours than I'd already spent trying to call myself. Sometimes paying for efficiency is worth it.

Don't overlook something important - what kind of truck are you buying? The tax benefits can vary MASSIVELY based on vehicle weight. If you buy a truck that qualifies as a "heavy SUV" with a gross vehicle weight rating over 6,000 pounds, you get WAY better tax treatment through Section 179. For 2025, the maximum first-year depreciation deduction for passenger vehicles is pretty limited, but heavy vehicles can qualify for much higher immediate expensing. That's why you see so many business owners driving larger trucks and SUVs. Just something to consider in your purchase decision. The tax savings between a 5,900 lb truck and a 6,100 lb truck could be substantial in year one.

Sorry but most of these comments are missing something crucial - the LLC aspect. How your LLC is taxed makes a BIG difference here! If you're a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietor, that's different than if you elected S-Corp taxation. With S-Corp taxation, if you buy the truck personally and use it for business, you need to be very careful about reimbursements to avoid it being considered a taxable fringe benefit to you as the employee/owner. I learned this the hard way and ended up with a mess to fix. Before you do anything, you should clarify your LLC's tax election status. Makes a huge difference in the right approach.

Great point about LLC tax elections! Since you mentioned launching your LLC last year, you likely defaulted to single-member LLC taxation (disregarded entity), which means vehicle expenses flow through to your personal Schedule C. This actually simplifies things compared to S-Corp situations. For your aquatic training business, I'd lean toward purchasing the truck through the LLC and claiming actual expenses rather than mileage. Given that you're hauling heavy equipment (tanks, compressors, etc.) to remote locations, you'll likely have significant wear and tear that exceeds what the standard mileage rate covers. Since you already have a personal vehicle, documenting 100% business use should be manageable. Just keep that detailed log everyone mentioned, and consider taking photos of the truck loaded with your gear at different training sites. The IRS is more accepting of 100% business use when there's a clear business necessity and you have a separate personal vehicle. One more thing - don't forget to factor in the business use percentage of your truck insurance into your decision. That alone might make the actual expense method more beneficial than mileage for your situation.