Does anyone know how much depreciation does a mobile have per year...??

Question

when i said mobile.. i meant a mobile phone / cel phone

Answer 1

How much did you pay for it? How many years are you likely to keep the phone? Probably not more than two I would guess. Will it have a resale value when you get rid of it? Take the cost price and depreciate it down to its resale value in equal portions over the years of its useful life.

But a mobile isn't that expensive. Why would you depreciate it anyway? Unless you have bought loads of them for your employees.

Answer 2

A cell phone is categorized as listed (non-vehicle) property for depreciation purposes. The bad news is, It uses a MACRS depreciation method over 7 years! Unless your cell phone is something remarkable and therefore cost an arm and a leg, you won't get much benefit from using regular depreciation each year.

The good news is it's eligible for Section 179 depreciation expensing, so you can write off the entire amount in the current year. That's going to be your best bet.

Also, unless your phone is used 100% for business you won't be able to deduct the entire cost, just a percentage. If the phone is used for 70% business, then you'll be able to deduct 70% of the cost of the phone.

Hope this helps!

Additional thanks to Michael: Haha! Yes, I didn't mention that you actually have to have something to deduct the 179 expenses against. :-) And if you do work out of your home, first line telephone expenses are considered personal, but since you're referring to a cell phone, I don't think that rule applies to you.

Answer 3

As you use the term mobile, I assume you're UK based.
Depreciation can be at any rate your accountant determines.
For CAPITAL ALLOWANCE purposes, the writing down allowance will be at 25% pa.

If you are asking how much depreciation (loss of value) it will suffer through ownership, they plummet like stones. Ever tried selling a second hand phone?

Answer 4

When you say mobile I am assuming that you speak of a car? I believe that the depreciation for a vehicle is 500(usd) either yearly or every 6 months.

Answer 5

First off unless the phone is used strictly for business purposes you will not be able to depreciate it. Second if the phone is used for business purposes I would almost recommend fully expensing it instead of depreciating it. You can take a Section 179 deduction for it and depreciate it all in the CY.

Answer 6

DE and Starlight_Chic are correct; to further clarify their answers, you need to know two additional things.

(1) You really cannot deduct your first phone line expenses--- even though just about everyone does anyway. For instance, if you work from home or have a home office, you cannot deduct the expense for the first line, but your monthly cell phone expenses can be deducted.

(2) You can claim a section 179 deduction in the first year, but you have to have income to deduct against.

Answer 7

A "mobile" what??