As we approach the end of the calendar year many businesses meet with their CPA to discuss areas to lessen their tax burden. During my nearly 3 decades in the office equipment industry I’ve often been asked whether a copier purchase can be used as a tax write off. As with any advice or information pertaining to taxes I will offer the caveat that you should always consult your business CPA to clarify tax laws and how they apply to your own specific business. That being said, for many if not most corporations a business copy machine can be an attractive tax write off in any given tax year.
In most cases a piece of office equipment such as a copier is listed as a capital expenditure and is therefore depreciated as an asset over 5 years. However, there is a specific tax deduction that is allowed for many if not most businesses that allows you to write off any one office equipment purchase in the year the purchase was made without depreciating it over 5 years; meaning that if the copier is the largest single office equipment expenditure that your business has purchased during a given tax year, in most cases you are able to take the deduction for the full purchase amount in the tax year that the copy machine was purchased.
Because a business copy machine is generally a fairly significant office expenditure that many companies make on average of once every five years this tax deduction may be an exciting incentive for businesses to consider if they are actively looking for deductions during the tax year when the purchase is made. As an example, if your corporation is in a 40% tax bracket and you take into account that the average business copy machine is purchased for approximately $7,500.00 this deduction can save your business approximately $3,000.00 in taxes.
In the event that your corporation is looking to lessen taxable profits and there is a potential need to purchase a new business copy machine or any piece of office equipment it might be a good strategy to consider an outright purchase of a machine prior to the end of the calendar year. Once again, the writer of this blog strongly urges you to consult with your CPA to learn more about this deduction and how it applies to your business.
