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MACRS Depreciation Calculator

Calculate MACRS depreciation schedules for business assets.

About this calculator

This calculator approximates a MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System) schedule using the 200% declining-balance method with a half-year first-year convention, switching to straight-line whenever straight-line would produce a bigger deduction (line 20, dep = bookValue * rate vs. sl = bookValue / (recoveryPeriod - i + 1.5), taking the larger of the two). Year 1 gets exactly half of the full-year declining-balance rate applied to the original cost (line 11-14, cost * (2 / recoveryPeriod) * 0.5) -- the half-year convention that assumes an asset is placed in service partway through its first year. Asset cost and recovery period have an exactly tied effect on Year 1's depreciation: doubling the cost doubles the deduction, and doubling the recovery period halves it, since Year 1 depreciation is simply cost divided by recovery period.

Depreciation Rate, by contrast, is driven mostly by recovery period, not asset cost -- it's the deduction expressed as a percentage of cost, and cost cancels out of that ratio algebraically, so a bigger or smaller asset produces the same rate for the same recovery period and year. This is a simplified approximation of the real MACRS tables in IRS Publication 946, which specify exact percentages per property class; it does not apply mid-quarter convention, bonus depreciation, or Section 179 expensing.

Inputs

$
years

Results

Current Year Depreciation

$7,142.86

≈ 7 smartphones

Accumulated Depreciation$7,142.86
Remaining Book Value$42,857.14
Depreciation Rate14.3%

Figures current as of 2026. Source: Internal Revenue Service, Publication 946: How To Depreciate Property

How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter the asset's cost basis.
  2. Select the MACRS recovery period (3, 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years).
  3. Input the year number (1 through end of recovery period).
  4. Review the MACRS depreciation expense for that year using the applicable IRS table percentage.
  5. Apply the half-year convention automatically calculated — adjust if mid-quarter convention applies.

How the result changes with Recovery Period

Recovery PeriodCurrent Year Depreciation
3.5$14,285.71
5.25$9,523.81
11$4,545.45
18$2,777.78

What each input means

Asset Cost
Original cost basis of the asset.
Recovery Period
MACRS recovery period (3, 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years).
Year
Which year of depreciation to calculate.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    Asset Cost = 50000, Recovery Period = 7, Year = 1 = 3 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Current Year Depreciation
    Current Year Depreciation
    7142.86 = $7,142.86
  3. Calculate Accumulated Depreciation
    7142.86 = $7,142.86
  4. Calculate Remaining Book Value
    42857.14 = $42,857.14

Figures and sources

Engine last updated . Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do asset cost and recovery period seem to matter equally in year 1?

In the first year, currentDepreciation reduces to cost / recoveryPeriod exactly (the half-year convention halves the full declining-balance rate of 2/recoveryPeriod, which cancels the 2). Doubling the cost input doubles Year 1's deduction, and doubling the recovery period cuts it in half -- the two inputs pull the figure in opposite directions but by matching proportional amounts, so for that specific first-year number, neither one can be said to outweigh the other.

Does asset cost change the depreciation rate?

No, not in year 1. Depreciation Rate divides currentDepreciation by assetCost (line 35), and since Year 1 depreciation is cost / recoveryPeriod, the cost term cancels out of the ratio -- a $10,000 asset and a $10,000,000 asset with the same recovery period produce the identical percentage rate. Only recovery period changes the rate.

What does the half-year convention mean for year 1?

It means the calculator treats a newly placed-in-service asset as if it were owned for only half of its first year, so Year 1's deduction is half of the full annual declining-balance rate (2 / recoveryPeriod) applied to the original cost, rather than a full year's worth. This mirrors the IRS's real half-year convention default, though the real MACRS tables also support a mid-quarter convention this calculator does not model.

Why does the model switch from declining balance to straight-line?

Every year after the first, the engine computes both a declining-balance deduction and a straight-line deduction on the remaining book value, then takes whichever is larger (line 20-24). Declining balance produces bigger deductions early on, but its percentage-of-remaining-value shrinks each year; eventually straight-line over the years left overtakes it, which is when real MACRS schedules make the same switch.

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