Vehicle Write-Offs, Deductions and Records for Contractors
Vehicle and equipment write-offs are the deductions contractors ask about most and document least. The rules are generous and specific at the same time: generous on amount, specific on weight, business-use percentage and what you can prove.
These episodes cover what actually qualifies, what the caps are for the current year, and what records turn a deduction from a position into a fact.
Episodes in this series
- 2026 Vehicle Write-Off Rules · Episode 107
- The Vehicle Loan Interest Deduction · Episode 47
- Cost Segregation for Contractors · Episode 31
- Top Deductions Contractors Miss · Episode 138
- Bookkeeping: What to Track and Keep · Episode 82
- IRS Audit Triggers · Episode 86
- How Long to Keep Tax Records · Episode 64
The number everyone quotes and the cap everyone forgets
Yes, a work vehicle over 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight can be expensed aggressively. No, that does not mean the whole purchase price. Passenger SUVs in the 6,001 to 14,000 pound band carry their own Section 179 ceiling, separate from the overall limit, and true work vehicles with a long enclosed bed escape it. Which category your truck falls in decides the number.
Business use is a floor, not a preference
Section 179 and bonus depreciation require more than 50 percent business use. Drop below that in a later year and the benefit is recaptured. This is the part that turns a good deduction into an assessment three years on, and it is entirely avoidable with a mileage log.
Records are the deduction
An expense you cannot substantiate is not a deduction, it is a position. For vehicles, travel and meals the substantiation rules are strict and estimates are not accepted. Knowing which categories allow reconstruction and which do not is the difference between keeping a deduction and losing it.
Buying a truck this year?
The weight class, the titling and the business-use percentage all change the answer. Worth ten minutes before you sign, not after.
Browse the full Construction Accounting Podcast archive
General information about how these rules work, not advice for your situation. Tax law changes and the right answer depends on your entity, your income and your circumstances. Talk to a CPA before acting on it.