The IRS has released the depreciation deduction amounts which are pursuant to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 280F. This code section discusses the depreciation deduction limits for passenger automobiles (including trucks and vans) first placed in service during 2019. For passenger autos acquired before 9/28/17 and placed in service during 2019, the depreciation limits are $10,100 for the first year ($14,900 with bonus depreciation), $16,100 for the second year, $9,700 for the third year, and $5,760 for each succeeding year. Typically bonus depreciation is taken by default for tax year 2019.
If a taxpayer is leasing a car, there are also lease inclusion amounts which is really giving the lease expense a haircut. This is discussed in Rev. Proc. 2019-26. Most small business owners use their auto’s for business. However, one needs to be careful in how they deduct the expense and depreciation of the vehicles. There are also additional considerations for luxury autos, and automobiles that weigh over 6,000 lbs., which allow for larger deductions.
Clients often ask us – “is it better to lease or purchase?” The answer is, well, it depends. Here are some quick thoughts.
If you drive a lot of miles, say over 12,000 miles a year, you will typically have to pay more or get a penalty for too many miles under a lease. However, if you like to get a new car often, then a lease might work out. Purchasing a car generally allows a business owner to deduct a large amount in the first year using accelerated depreciation, but one still needs to navigate through the depreciation limitations above. However, depreciation for vehicles above 6,000 gross vehicle weight may allow for more. Now, most of this discussion is regarding passenger auto’s and SUV’s, so if you purchase commercial vans or trucks for your business the depreciation rules and deductions are generally much larger as they are viewed as not being passenger autos.
Anyway, as one can see there are specific rules and considerations for deducting your vehicle. The IRS doesn’t allow for deductions for personal use, and personal use technically can also include commuting to and from work. So, discuss this topic with your tax advisor and make sure you understand your plan, your deductions and your risk.
For passenger autos acquired after 9/27/17 and placed in service during 2019, the depreciation limits are $10,100 for the first year ($18,100 with bonus depreciation), $16,100 for the second year, $9,700 for the third year, and $5,760 for each succeeding year. Also, the IRS has released the lease inclusion amounts for lessees of passenger autos first leased in 2019. Rev. Proc. 2019-26.
The IRS recently announced the inflation-adjusted maximum value of an employer-provided vehicle under the vehicle cents-per-mile rule and the fleet-average value rule. Employers can use the rules to value an employee’s personal use of such a vehicle for income and employment tax purposes.
The new values reflect vehicle-related amendments in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the IRS’s intent to make the rules more widely available to employers. The IRS is also temporarily loosening some of the consistency requirements for 2018 and 2019.
Valuation methods for personal use
When an employer provides an employee with a vehicle that’s available for personal use, it must include the value of the personal use in the employee’s income. Employers generally have four methods available to value an employee’s personal use of a company car:
General valuation rule. This involves the fair market value (FMV), which is defined as the amount the employee would have to pay a third party to lease the same or similar vehicle on the same or comparable terms in the geographic area where the employee uses the vehicle.
Commuting valuation rule. This is the amount of each one-way commute, from home to work or from work to home, multiplied by $1.50. (This method’s availability is subject to stringent requirements, including having a written policy limiting the employee’s use to commuting and “de minimis” personal use.)
The cents-per-mile rule. Employers can use the business standard mileage rate (58 cents for 2019, less up to 5.5 cents if the employer doesn’t provide fuel) multiplied by the total miles the employee drives the vehicle (including cars, trucks and vans) for personal purposes.
The automobile annual lease valuation rule. With this method, employers use the annual lease value of the automobile (including trucks and vans) — as specified by an IRS table that bases annual lease value on an automobile’s FMV — multiplied by the percentage of personal miles out of total miles driven by the employee. This amount also is subject to a fuel adjustment.
The fleet-average value rule allows employers operating a fleet of 20 or more qualifying automobiles to use an average annual lease value for every qualifying vehicle in the fleet when applying the automobile annual lease valuation rule.
The fleet-average value rule or the simple cents-per-mile rule isn’t available, though, if the FMV of the vehicle exceeds a certain base value, adjusted annually for inflation, on the first date the vehicle is made available to the employee for personal use. In 2017, the maximum value for the cents-per-mile rule was $15,900 for a passenger automobile and $17,800 for a truck or van. The maximum value for the fleet-average value rule that year was $21,100 for a passenger automobile and $23,300 for a truck or van.
The role of the TCJA
The base values were raised significantly earlier this year, in IRS Notice 2019-08, to reflect amendments made by the TCJA. The law changes the price inflation measure for automobiles (including trucks and vans). It also substantially increases the maximum annual dollar limitations on the depreciation deductions for passenger automobiles, basing the latter on the depreciation of a passenger automobile with a cost of $50,000 (up from $12,800), inflation adjusted annually, over a five-year recovery period.
The IRS announced in the guidance that it intended to amend the tax regulations to incorporate a base value of $50,000 for both the cents-per-mile and the fleet-average value rules, effective for the 2018 calendar year. It also intended to amend the regulations to provide that the base value will be adjusted annually for 2019 and future years using the new price inflation measure.
The latest news
Now, in Notice 2019-34, the IRS has announced the adjusted values for 2019. For vehicles and automobiles first made available to employees for personal use in calendar year 2019, the maximum value under both rules is $50,400. Under planned amendments to the applicable regulations, these maximum values will be the same as the maximum standard automobile cost that determines eligibility to set reimbursement allowances under a fixed and variable rate (FAVR) plan — an alternative to the business standard mileage rate.
The IRS also shared its intention to amend the tax regulations to provide relief to employers that previously didn’t qualify for the cents-per-mile rule because, under the earlier rules, the vehicle’s FMV exceeded the permissible maximum value. Under amended regulations, the employer may first adopt the cents-per-mile valuation rule for 2018 or 2019 based on the maximum value of a vehicle for 2018 or 2019.
Note, though, that employers that adopt the cents-per-mile rule generally must continue to use it for all subsequent years in which the vehicle qualifies for it. An employer can, however, use the commuting valuation rule for any year the vehicle qualifies.
Similarly, employers that didn’t qualify for the fleet-average value rule before 2019 because of the pre-2018 maximum value limit can adopt the rule for 2018 or 2019 if it falls under the applicable maximum value.
The new notice confirms that employers can use the flexible guidelines in Announcement 85-113 to determine the timing for when personal use income is deemed paid. That means employers may use the rules in that guidance, the adjustment process, or the refund claim process to correct any over-payment of federal employment taxes resulting from application of the notice’s transition relief.
