TAX FILE

After wrangling for months over dueling “stimulus” and “relief” provisions, the House and Senate suddenly agreed in early March on a package of tax changes. Most important for truck buyers is a provision allowing taxpayers to expense, or immediately deduct, 30% of the cost of new vehicles or equipment acquired after Sept. 10, 2001 and before Sept. 11, 2004. Thus, buyers of a $100,000 truck could expense $30,000, in addition to claiming regular depreciation on the remaining $70,000. As under prior law, firms buying less than $200,000 of equipment in a year are also eligible to expense an additional $24,000. In the example above, small purchasers could expense $54,000 of the $100,000 and claim regular depreciation on the remaining $46,000.