Can You Write Off a Vehicle Over 6,000 Pounds?

Yes, you can write off a vehicle over 6,000 pounds, and the deduction can be dramatically larger than what a standard car allows. For a qualifying heavy vehicle placed in service in 2026 and used more than 50 percent for business, you may be able to deduct the entire purchase price in the first year through Section 179, 100-percent bonus depreciation, or a combination of the two. A passenger car placed in service the same year is capped at $20,300 in year one. The catch: standard SUVs hit a separate $32,000 Section 179 ceiling that pickups with full-size beds and cargo vans do not.

Does Your Vehicle Actually Qualify

The IRS defines a “passenger automobile” as any four-wheeled vehicle made primarily for use on public roads and rated at 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight or less.¹ For trucks and vans, gross vehicle weight is used rather than unloaded weight.² Vehicles at or below the threshold are locked into strict annual “luxury auto” depreciation caps. Vehicles above it escape those caps.

The number that matters is the manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), not what the vehicle weighs empty. GVWR is the maximum loaded weight the manufacturer certifies the vehicle can safely handle, and federal regulations require it to appear on a certification label on the driver’s side door frame, door-latch post, or door edge.³ Manufacturer websites and window stickers often show it too, but the door-frame label is what the IRS will check.

Plenty of common vehicles clear the mark. Full-size pickups like the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado, and RAM 1500 almost always qualify. Large SUVs including the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition, GMC Yukon, and Jeep Wagoneer sit well above 6,000 pounds. Even some midsize SUVs cross the threshold depending on drivetrain and options — the Toyota 4Runner, four-door Ford Bronco, BMW X5, and Jeep Grand Cherokee have configurations that qualify. Verify the GVWR for your specific trim before you assume anything.

What You Can Deduct in 2026

Two accelerated methods do the heavy lifting.

Section 179 Expensing

Section 179 lets a business deduct the full purchase price of qualifying property, including heavy vehicles, in the year it is placed in service. For tax years beginning in 2026, the overall Section 179 maximum is $2,560,000, phasing down dollar-for-dollar once total Section 179 property placed in service during the year exceeds $4,090,000 and disappearing at $6,650,000.⁴

Both new and used vehicles qualify, so long as the vehicle is new to your business. Financing does not disqualify you; you can deduct the full purchase price in year one even if the loan runs for years. True leases do not qualify, and your deduction on a leased vehicle is limited to the business portion of your lease payments.⁵ Section 179 also cannot exceed your business’s taxable income for the year; anything you can’t use carries forward.⁶

100-Percent Bonus Depreciation

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), signed in 2025, restored 100-percent bonus depreciation for qualifying property acquired after January 19, 2025.⁷ For a heavy vehicle acquired and placed in service after that date, a business can deduct 100 percent of the cost in year one.

Bonus depreciation covers both new and used property, as long as the vehicle is new to your business. It has no taxable-income limit, so it can create or increase a net operating loss. And importantly, the SUV cap discussed below does not apply to bonus depreciation.

The Numbers Side by Side

For passenger cars placed in service in 2026, the first-year depreciation deduction is capped at $20,300 when bonus depreciation applies, or $12,300 without it, with lower caps in later years.⁸ A $60,000 passenger car takes roughly eight years to fully depreciate. A $60,000 pickup over 6,000 pounds with a six-foot bed can be deducted entirely in year one. That is the gap the weight rule creates.

The SUV Trap

Here is where buyers get caught. Even when an SUV clears 6,000 pounds, Section 179 imposes a separate cap of $32,000 for 2026 on any SUV rated between 6,001 and 14,000 pounds.⁴ Buying a $75,000 Tahoe does not automatically mean a $75,000 Section 179 deduction. The Section 179 piece stops at $32,000.

Several vehicle types are exempt from that cap:⁹

Pickups with a cargo area at least six feet long that is not directly accessible from the passenger compartment. Most full-size pickups with standard or long beds meet this test.
Cargo and delivery vans with an enclosed driver compartment and load area, no seating behind the driver, and no body section extending more than 30 inches ahead of the windshield.
Passenger vans designed to seat more than nine people behind the driver, such as shuttle vans.

The cap is not the end of the deduction, though. On a $75,000 SUV, you can take $32,000 under Section 179 and then apply 100-percent bonus depreciation to the remaining $43,000, deducting the full cost in year one. The cap changes the mechanics, not the ultimate result, provided bonus depreciation is available.

The 50-Percent Business Use Rule

Every accelerated deduction is prorated by business use. Use a $70,000 truck 80 percent for business and 20 percent personally, and $56,000 becomes the amount eligible for Section 179 or bonus depreciation.

Fifty percent is a hard floor. If business use does not exceed 50 percent, you cannot claim Section 179 or bonus depreciation at all.¹ You are pushed into straight-line depreciation under the alternative depreciation system, which yields a much smaller first-year write-off.

What Counts and What Doesn’t

Commuting between home and your regular workplace is personal, no matter the distance.² Business miles include trips from your office to a client, travel between job sites, and supply runs. If your home is your principal place of business, drives from home to client sites count.

Mileage Records

The IRS expects a contemporaneous mileage log recorded at or near the time of each trip. Every entry needs the date, destination, business purpose, and odometer readings. Without a log, the IRS can disallow the entire business-use percentage. This is the single most common reason these deductions fall apart on audit, and “I meant to keep records” is not a defense.

Recapture: The String Attached

A large first-year deduction comes with an ongoing obligation. Business use must stay above 50 percent throughout the vehicle’s recovery period. If it drops to 50 percent or below in any later year, the IRS requires you to report the excess depreciation as ordinary income.¹⁰ The excess is the difference between what you claimed under accelerated methods and what you would have claimed under the slower alternative depreciation system.¹

Heavy business vehicles are five-year MACRS property, but because of the half-year convention the recovery period spans six tax years, and business use matters throughout. Recapture is reported on Form 4797 and treated as other income on whatever schedule carried the original deduction.¹¹ A truck bought for the business that slowly becomes the family car is the classic recapture scenario, and the tax bill lands years after the write-off.

Your State May Not Follow Along

Federal deductions do not automatically flow to your state return. Many states either do not conform to the current federal Section 179 limits, do not allow bonus depreciation, or impose their own lower caps. California does not conform to either the expanded Section 179 limits or bonus depreciation. Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, and several other states require partial or full addbacks of federal bonus depreciation. Some states cap Section 179 as low as $25,000.

The practical result: a vehicle you fully wrote off federally may still generate a substantial state tax bill. Check your state’s conformity before committing to a strategy.

How to Claim the Deduction

Keep three things on file. The purchase invoice showing what you paid and that you own the vehicle rather than lease it. Documentation of the GVWR — a photo of the certification label on the door frame, plus manufacturer specs for your exact trim. And the contemporaneous mileage log.

The deduction is reported on Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization.¹² Part I handles the Section 179 election, Part II handles bonus depreciation, and Part V requires detailed business-use information for any listed property, including vehicles. Large first-year vehicle deductions draw IRS attention, so if you are combining Section 179 with bonus depreciation on the same SUV — the usual move when the $32,000 cap bites — put each portion in the correct section of the form.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 280F – Limitation on Depreciation for Luxury Automobiles
2
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
3
eCFR. 49 CFR 567.4 – Requirements for Manufacturers of Motor Vehicles
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 179 – Election to Expense Certain Depreciable Business Assets
5
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
6
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.179-2 – Limitations on Amount Subject to Section 179 Election
7
Internal Revenue Service. One, Big, Beautiful Bill Provisions
8
Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2026-15
9
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 4562
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 544 (2025), Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets
11
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 4797 (2025)
12
Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 4562 – Depreciation and Amortization