Small Business Tax Tips - How to Prepare Form 4562 in 5 Simple Steps

If you bought equipment for your business last year such as a computer or a printer, you can deduct those items on your business income tax return. Usually that means tackling Form 4562 and entering one of the most complicated areas of tax law, the dreaded world known as depreciation.

For do-it-yourself-ers who abhor the thought of paying someone else to do your income tax return, this article will help you prepare Form 4562 without breaking into a sweat.

Thanks to a tax rule known as Section 179, most small business owners can fully deduct the cost of equipment without going near those complex depreciation laws. But you still have to complete Form 4562, and then you have to transfer the amount of your Section 179 deduction from Form 4562 to your main business income tax form, whether that be Schedule C (sole proprietorship), Form 1065 (partnership), Form 1120 (regular corporation) or Form 1120S (S corporation). Here's how to do that:

1. Compile a list of all equipment purchased for the business last year. This list should include the purchase date, the cost and a brief description of the item. Generally speaking, personal property such as office equipment, office furniture and tools can be deducted via Section 179 but real property cannot (buildings and building improvements).

2. Add up the cost of all the equipment that qualifies for the Section 179. If you are not sure whether a particular items qualifies, review the Form 4562 instructions or call the IRS for clarification. As long as the total cost of all Section 179 property bought in 2008 is less than $250,000, you can proceed without getting bogged down in the more complicated aspects of Section 179. If you bought more than $250,000, things get more complicated and you'll need to get more help than this article provides.

3. Go to Form 4562 and report the total cost of all Section 179 property on Line 2. Again, assuming that the Line 2 amount is less than $250,000, you should be able to carry the Line 2 amount down to Line 8 and Line 9.

4. You must list each property item separately on Line 6. There is only space for two items here, so if you have more than two items, attach a separate schedule which reports all the items and simply write the words "see attached list" on Line 6. Column (a) contains the description; Column (b) and (c) are used for the cost and elected cost, which should be the same.

5. Line 11 is called "Business income limitation", another example of a simple tax rule with subtle complications. Here's the scoop: generally, you cannot use the Section 179 deduction to create a business loss or increase a business loss. So if the total cost of your Section 179 items is less than your business profit, you can deduct the full cost of all these items. But if you already have a loss before taking the Section 179 deduction, or if taking the Section 179 deduction creates a loss, then you have to be careful here, and you should probably get some help to sort this out.

Put your business profit on Line 11 and the Section 179 deduction on Line 12, and assuming that Line 11 is greater tha
Line 12, you are done with Form 4562. The only thing left to do is to transfer the Line 12 amount to your main business income tax form, such as Schedule C, Form 1065, Form 1120 or Form 1120, depending on your business entity.