MACRS depreciation lookup ESTIMATE
Apply IRS Publication 946 half-year MACRS percentages to a depreciable basis you enter.
General information, not tax or legal advice. Tax year 2026 dollar limits below are from IRS Publication 946. The percentage table is the half-year convention in that publication. This is not a class-life determination and not Form 4562.
Selected year ESTIMATE
| Recovery year | Rate | Amount |
|---|
What the table is
The percentages are Table A-1 in IRS Publication 946 (2025), Appendix A: 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year property under the half-year convention. On a $10,000 basis in 5-year property, year 1 is 20% ($2,000) and year 2 is 32% ($3,200). You apply the rate to the unadjusted basis each year, not to the remaining book value. Publication 946 says unadjusted basis is reduced by section 179, bonus depreciation, and amortization before you use the table.
Half-year is the common case, not the only case
The half-year convention treats property as placed in service at the midpoint of the year, so the first and last years are partial. That is why 5-year property shows six rates. You use a different table if the mid-quarter convention applies. Publication 946 states the mid-quarter test: it depends on how much of the year’s depreciable basis was placed in service in the last three months. Real property (residential rental 27.5-year and nonresidential 39-year) uses the mid-month convention and is not in this lookup. Listed property, cars, and short tax years have extra rules in the same publication.
Section 179 and bonus, tax year 2026
Publication 946’s “What’s New for 2026” states that for tax years beginning in 2026 the maximum section 179 expense deduction is $2,560,000, reduced by the cost of section 179 property placed in service that exceeds $4,090,000. The same publication says that, unless you elect out, a 100% special depreciation allowance applies to certain qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. Eligibility, the business-income limit, and listed-property caps are fact-specific. Enter only the basis that remains after those deductions. This page will not decide whether your asset qualifies.
The recovery class is also fact-specific. Appendix B of Publication 946 assigns class lives. Do not guess from a nickname like “computer” or “furniture” without checking that appendix. Book straight-line, if you keep it, belongs on the straight-line calculator and can differ from this tax schedule.
Sources
- IRS Publication 946 (2025), How To Depreciate Property — Table A-1 half-year rates, and the 2026 section 179 dollar limits in What’s New for 2026.
- IRS news release on additional first-year depreciation — permanent 100% additional first-year depreciation for qualified property under the amendments described there.