Can You Write Off a Car Over 6,000 Pounds for Business?

Yes, you can write off a vehicle over 6,000 pounds for business, and in 2026 the write-off can equal the full purchase price in year one. The tax code treats vehicles rated above 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight differently from ordinary cars, letting you skip the annual depreciation caps that limit lighter passenger autos to $20,300 in first-year deductions. Combine Section 179 expensing with 100% bonus depreciation, which the One Big Beautiful Bill Act permanently restored in mid-2025, and a qualifying heavy vehicle placed in service for business can be fully deducted the year you start using it.

Why 6,000 Pounds Is the Cutoff

Section 280F classifies any four-wheeled vehicle built for public roads and rated at 6,000 pounds or less as a “passenger automobile” subject to strict annual depreciation caps.¹ For 2026, first-year depreciation on a passenger auto tops out at $20,300 with bonus depreciation, or $12,300 without.² Buy a $60,000 sedan and use it 100% for business, and you still only deduct a slice of it the first year.

Cross the 6,000-pound threshold and those caps disappear. The number that governs is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, meaning the manufacturer’s maximum loaded weight for the vehicle. You’ll find the GVWR on the sticker inside the driver’s-side door jamb or in the owner’s manual.¹ Options like four-wheel drive, larger engines, and towing packages can push a specific trim above or below the line, so check the exact configuration before you buy.

The Two Deductions That Do the Work

Section 179 Expensing

Section 179 lets you deduct the cost of qualifying business property in the year it’s placed in service rather than spreading the deduction over several years. It covers both new and used vehicles, as long as the vehicle is new to your business. You claim it on Form 4562 for the tax year the vehicle enters service.³ The deduction can’t exceed your taxable business income, but any unused amount carries forward.⁴

For heavy vehicles, there’s an important split. A four-wheeled vehicle designed primarily to carry passengers, rated above 6,000 pounds but no more than 14,000 pounds, is capped at $32,000 of Section 179 for 2026.⁵ Full-size SUVs like the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, and Cadillac Escalade sit in this category.

Two categories escape the SUV cap and can be fully expensed under Section 179:

Vehicles rated above 14,000 pounds GVWR, such as box trucks and heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
Trucks and vans not designed primarily for passengers, including pickup trucks with a cargo bed at least six feet long and cargo vans with no rear seating.⁴

100% Bonus Depreciation

Bonus depreciation had been phasing down under the original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act schedule, dropping to 40% in 2025 and headed to zero in 2027. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reversed that, permanently restoring 100% additional first-year depreciation for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025.⁶

Bonus depreciation covers 100% of the cost basis left after any Section 179 deduction. It has no business-income limitation; if the deduction creates a net operating loss, you carry that loss forward.⁷ Just as important, bonus depreciation has no separate cap for heavy SUVs, which is what makes the pairing so powerful. Used vehicles qualify as long as the vehicle is new to you, you didn’t buy it from a related party, and your basis isn’t determined by the seller’s basis.⁸

How the Numbers Stack: An $85,000 Suburban

Imagine you buy an $85,000 Chevrolet Suburban (GVWR around 7,500 pounds) and use it entirely for business in 2026. The Suburban is a passenger-oriented SUV, so the Section 179 SUV cap applies:

Section 179 deduction: $32,000 (the 2026 SUV cap)⁵
Remaining cost basis: $53,000
100% bonus depreciation on the remainder: $53,000
Total first-year deduction: $85,000

With bonus depreciation back at 100%, the SUV cap barely matters for most single-vehicle purchases because bonus depreciation absorbs whatever Section 179 can’t. Compare that to a $55,000 sedan under 6,000 pounds, where your maximum first-year deduction is $20,300 and the rest recovers over several more years at falling annual caps.² The weight rating alone shifts tens of thousands of dollars into year one.

Common Vehicles That Clear 6,000 Pounds

Plenty of full-size SUVs, pickups, and vans exceed the threshold. Typical examples from the file:

Full-size SUVs subject to the $32,000 Section 179 cap: Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban (7,300–7,800 lbs), Ford Expedition (7,450–7,850 lbs), GMC Yukon and Yukon XL (7,300–7,500 lbs), Cadillac Escalade (7,300–7,500 lbs), Toyota Sequoia (7,200–7,300 lbs), Lincoln Navigator (7,300–7,850 lbs), Nissan Armada (7,300–7,500 lbs), and certain Land Rover Range Rover trims (6,800+ lbs).
Pickup trucks exempt from the SUV cap when the bed is six feet or longer: Ford F-150 and F-250, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2500, Ram 1500 and 2500, GMC Sierra, and Toyota Tundra.
Commercial vans exempt from the SUV cap: Ford Transit, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, Ram ProMaster, and Chevrolet Express cargo vans.

Verify GVWR for the specific trim and configuration. It varies within a model line.

Who Can Actually Claim It

Section 179 and bonus depreciation are available to businesses and self-employed people who use the vehicle in an active trade or business. That covers sole proprietors, partnerships, S corporations, and C corporations. W-2 employees driving their own vehicle for work are generally shut out. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses, and the narrow exceptions cover only armed forces reservists, qualified performing artists, and fee-basis government officials.⁹

You also have to own the vehicle for tax purposes. A purchase or a financed loan qualifies. A true lease, where the leasing company keeps ownership, does not; you’d deduct lease payments instead. Some capital or lease-to-own arrangements can be treated as purchases, but the answer depends on the specific terms.

Documenting Business Use

The deduction stands or falls on records. The vehicle must be used more than 50% for business in the year it’s placed in service. If business use is 50% or less, you lose Section 179 and bonus depreciation entirely and are restricted to straight-line depreciation over five years.¹⁰

The IRS wants a contemporaneous mileage log, meaning records kept at or near the time of each trip. A weekly summary covering all business use during the week is acceptable. Each entry needs the date, the miles driven, the destination, and the business purpose.¹⁰ Track total miles for the year too, so you can calculate the business-use percentage. Mixed use is deductible only in proportion: a vehicle used 80% for business generates deductions based on 80% of the cost.

If Business Use Drops in a Later Year

The 50% test runs across the whole five-year recovery period. If business use falls to 50% or less in any year during that window, recapture kicks in. You add back the difference between the accelerated depreciation you claimed and the straight-line amount you would have gotten, and it shows up as ordinary income in the year of the drop.¹¹ This surprises people who buy a heavy vehicle for a job that later shifts.

What Happens When You Sell

A big first-year deduction is a timing benefit, not permanent forgiveness. When you sell or trade in the vehicle, gain is taxed as ordinary income up to the amount of depreciation you previously claimed, whether that came from Section 179, bonus depreciation, or regular MACRS.¹²

Your adjusted basis is the original cost minus depreciation taken. Fully expense an $85,000 SUV in year one and the basis is zero, so any sale proceeds are taxable gain. Sell it three years later for $45,000, and that $45,000 is ordinary income.¹³

If You’re Buying Electric

A separate credit may stack with the depreciation deductions. Section 45W provides a credit for qualified commercial clean vehicles equal to the lesser of 15% of cost (30% for fully electric) or the incremental cost over a comparable gas vehicle. The credit caps at $7,500 for vehicles under 14,000 pounds GVWR and $40,000 at or above that weight.¹⁴ Claiming this credit reduces the depreciable basis, so adjust Section 179 and bonus depreciation accordingly.

If You Elect Out of Bonus Depreciation

Most heavy vehicle purchases in 2026 will be fully deducted in year one, leaving nothing for later depreciation. If you elect out of bonus depreciation, or if a Section 179 amount is limited by business income and carries forward, the remaining cost recovers under MACRS. Vehicles are five-year property, and the IRS publishes the annual percentages in Publication 946.¹⁵

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 280F – Limitation on Depreciation for Luxury Automobiles
2
Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2026-15
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4562 (2025)
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 179 – Election to Expense Certain Depreciable Business Assets
5
Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32
6
Internal Revenue Service. Treasury, IRS Issue Guidance on the Additional First Year Depreciation Deduction Amended as Part of the One Big Beautiful Bill
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 168 – Accelerated Cost Recovery System
8
Internal Revenue Service. Additional First Year Depreciation Deduction (Bonus) – FAQ
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 529 (12/2020), Miscellaneous Deductions
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
11
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses – Section: Car Used 50% or Less for Business
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1245 – Gain From Dispositions of Certain Depreciable Property
13
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 544 (2025), Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 45W – Credit for Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles
15
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 946 (2025), How To Depreciate Property