Depreciation on Television as Per Income Tax: MACRS and Section 179

Depreciation on a television for business is usually unnecessary in the traditional sense, because federal tax law lets most businesses deduct the entire cost in the year of purchase. Three accelerated options — the de minimis safe harbor election, Section 179 expensing, and 100 percent bonus depreciation — cover nearly every TV a business buys. Standard depreciation over multiple years remains available, but it is now the fallback rather than the default. Which route works for you depends on the price, how much of the use is genuinely business, and whether the IRS treats the television as “listed property.”

When a Television Qualifies for a Deduction

Three conditions have to be met before any depreciation deduction is available. You must own the television. Financing it or buying it on a payment plan still counts as ownership, but leasing it from someone else generally does not, because you don’t bear the burden of its declining value.¹

It must be used in your business or an income-producing activity. A TV in a restaurant dining room, a waiting area, or a conference room used for client presentations clearly qualifies. A television in your living room does not.²

It must have a useful life beyond one tax year. Televisions clear that bar easily.

The Listed Property Problem

The IRS keeps a category called “listed property” for assets prone to personal use. It covers vehicles, aircraft, and property generally used for entertainment, recreation, or amusement, which specifically includes video recording and communication equipment.¹ A television can land in this category depending on how it’s used, particularly in a mixed setting like a home office.

Two consequences follow if your TV is listed property. First, business use has to exceed 50 percent for you to claim Section 179 expensing, bonus depreciation, or accelerated MACRS. Drop to 50 percent or below and you’re limited to straight-line depreciation. Second, you can’t take any depreciation or Section 179 deduction on listed property without adequate records — an account book, log, or similar documentation showing when and how it was used for business.³

A TV bolted to the wall of a commercial space with no realistic personal use draws less scrutiny than one in a home office that shares a wall with the family couch. Keep a simple log either way.

Three Ways to Deduct the Whole Cost in Year One

De Minimis Safe Harbor Election

If the television costs $2,500 or less per invoice (or $5,000 if your business has audited financial statements), you can expense the full amount in the year of purchase without treating it as a depreciable asset at all.⁴ The election is made annually by attaching a statement titled “Section 1.263(a)-1(f) de minimis safe harbor election” to a timely filed return, containing your name, address, taxpayer identification number, and a sentence confirming the election. Partnerships and S corporations make the election at the entity level. Once elected, it applies to every qualifying expenditure that year; you can’t pick and choose.

Section 179 Expensing

For a television that runs above the de minimis threshold, Section 179 allows you to deduct the full purchase price in the year the TV is placed in service. The 2026 deduction limit is $2,560,000, with a phase-out starting at $4,090,000 in total equipment purchases — numbers no single television will approach. If the TV is listed property, business use has to exceed 50 percent.

Bonus Depreciation

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in 2025, permanently restored 100 percent bonus depreciation for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025. A business television placed in service in 2026 qualifies for a full first-year write-off. Unlike Section 179, bonus depreciation can create a net operating loss when the deduction exceeds business income for the year. A taxpayer who prefers a smaller deduction can elect 40 percent instead of 100 percent.⁵

Standard MACRS Depreciation Over Seven Years

When none of the accelerated options is used, a business television is depreciated under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System. A TV serving as general office equipment — a lobby display, a break room screen, a conference room monitor — usually falls into the 7-year property class, the default for business personal property that has no other class life assigned.⁶

The method is 200 percent declining balance, switching to straight-line when that yields a larger deduction. Under the half-year convention (the usual default), the IRS treats the television as placed in service at the midpoint of the year regardless of the actual purchase date, so first-year depreciation is roughly half a normal year’s amount and a partial deduction lands in year eight.¹

The approximate annual percentages for 7-year property under the half-year convention are 14.29% in year one, 24.49% in year two, 17.49% in year three, 12.49% in year four, 8.93% in years five and seven, 8.92% in year six, and 4.46% in year eight.

A Worked Example

Start with the depreciable basis: the purchase price plus any costs to get the television ready for use, such as delivery and professional mounting. A $2,000 commercial display with $200 of installation gives you a $2,200 basis. Reduce that basis by any Section 179 or bonus depreciation claimed; take neither, and the full $2,200 runs through MACRS.

Year 1: $2,200 × 14.29% = $314
Year 2: $2,200 × 24.49% = $539
Year 3: $2,200 × 17.49% = $385
Year 4: $2,200 × 12.49% = $275
Year 5: $2,200 × 8.93% = $196
Year 6: $2,200 × 8.92% = $196
Year 7: $2,200 × 8.93% = $196
Year 8: $2,200 × 4.46% = $98

The total recovers the full $2,200 over eight tax years, with the heaviest deductions in the first three.

The Mid-Quarter Convention

If more than 40 percent of all depreciable personal property you place in service during the year enters use in the last three months, the mid-quarter convention replaces the half-year convention, and each asset is treated as placed in service at the midpoint of its actual quarter. A television bought and installed in October under this rule produces a smaller first-year deduction than one installed in January. Property expensed through Section 179 or bonus depreciation isn’t counted in the 40 percent test, so those elections can keep you out of mid-quarter territory on your other assets.¹

Mixed Business and Personal Use

A television in a home office that also gets used for personal viewing has to be split by business-use percentage. Only the business portion is deductible.² Suppose the TV is used 60 percent for business (client video calls, reviewing presentations) and 40 percent for personal use. Multiply the basis by 0.60 and run MACRS on the reduced figure. For the $2,200 television, the depreciable basis becomes $1,320 and the first-year MACRS deduction is $1,320 × 14.29% = $189 instead of $314. The same ratio applies to Section 179 and bonus depreciation.

When the TV is listed property, business use has to stay above 50 percent to use any accelerated method or Section 179. If it later drops to 50 percent or below after you’ve already claimed accelerated depreciation, you may have to recapture the excess deductions as income.¹

Where It Goes on Your Tax Return

Depreciation for a business television is reported on IRS Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization. Where on the form depends on the method:

Section 179 expensing goes in Part I.
Bonus depreciation goes in Part II (Special Depreciation Allowance).
Standard MACRS goes in Part III, Section B, on the line for the applicable property class. You enter the classification, month and year placed in service, depreciable basis, recovery period, convention, method, and computed deduction.⁷
Listed property goes in Part V, which requires the business-use percentage and substantiation details.⁷

If you took the de minimis safe harbor, the television doesn’t appear on Form 4562 at all. It goes on the appropriate schedule as an ordinary business expense — Schedule C for sole proprietors, or the equivalent line on a partnership or corporate return.

Records to Keep

The IRS expects records that verify when and how you acquired the asset, its cost basis, and the depreciation claimed each year.⁸ For a business television, that means holding onto:

The purchase invoice showing vendor, date, model, and price.
Installation and delivery receipts, which establish the full depreciable basis.
Proof of payment: credit card statement, bank record, or canceled check.
The placed-in-service date, which is when the TV was first ready and available for business use, not necessarily the purchase date.
A business-use log, particularly for listed property or any mixed-use situation. A simple record of business versus personal hours is what keeps the deduction intact if it’s challenged.

A fixed asset register that tracks each depreciable item, its basis, placed-in-service date, method, and cumulative deductions makes annual calculations straightforward and gives auditors what they ask for.⁸ Keep these records for as long as you own the television, plus at least three years after filing the return on which you claim the final depreciation deduction or report the disposition.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 946 – How To Depreciate Property
2
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 704, Depreciation
3
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 587 – Business Use of Your Home
4
Internal Revenue Service. Tangible Property Final Regulations
5
Internal Revenue Service. Notice 2026-11 – Interim Guidance on Additional First Year Depreciation Deduction
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 168 – Accelerated Cost Recovery System
7
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4562
8
Internal Revenue Service. What Kind of Records Should I Keep