Manufacturers acquiring more than 40 percent of their annual capital equipment expenditures in the last three months of the year must apply the
Mid-Quarter Convention to their depreciation claim for ALL equipment purchases made that year.
However, the
mid-quarter convention (instead of the mid-year convention) applies to depreciable property placed in service during the taxable year if the aggregate bases of property placed in service during the last three months of the taxable year exceeds 40% of the aggregate bases of property placed in service (or disposed of) during the taxable year ("the 40% test").
The
mid-quarter convention applies to property placed in service during the taxable year if the aggregate bases of property placed in service by the taxpayer during the last three months of the taxable year exceeds 40% of the aggregate bases of property placed in service during the taxable year.
168(d)(4)(c)
mid-quarter convention and regular depreciation would differ.
If the taxpayer chooses the assets to which it will allocate the [section] 179 amount, the taxpayer also can affect whether the
mid-quarter convention or the half-year convention will apply to assets.
Specifically, if the cost of business assets placed in service during the last quarter of 1999 exceeds 40% of the cost of all business assets put in service during the year, your depreciation deductions for all assets placed in service during the year are figured under the
mid-quarter convention, which will dramatically reduce your annual depreciation deduction.
If more than 40 percent of your purchases are in the fourth quarter, your depreciation deduction will be calculated using the
mid-quarter convention. This can reduce your depreciation deduction for the year.
Features include: an pull-down menu system; support of all depreciation methods including ACRS and MACRS and those for pre-ACRS assets, book depreciation, or amortizable assets; unlimited number of companies to maintain depreciation schedules for; unlimited number of assets for a company; up to five depreciation calculations possible for each asset entered; user-determined number of methods and descriptions for each method when creating a depreciation file; calculation of monthly, annual, next-year's, prorated, short-year and projected depreciation; automatic application of listed property limitations and the provisions of the
mid-quarter convention where appropriate; a wide variety of reports; and more.
31, 2003 to elect not to apply the
mid-quarter convention to property placed in service in the tax year that included 2001, if the third or fourth quarter of the taxpayer's tax year included Sept.
By using Section 179 on those assets that ate acquired in the last quarter, you may be able to prevent that
mid-quarter convention from applying, because it may reduce the basis of those assets below the 40% threshold.
A general asset account is to include assets placed in service in the same tax year that have the same class, depreciation method, recovery period and first-year convention (that is, either half-year or
mid-quarter convention).
Also, if the
mid-quarter convention is an issue, taxpayers can select assets acquired in the last quarter of the tax year.