Is a laptop tax deductible?
Yes, by the share you use it for the business, and usually all in the year you buy it.
The rule
Equipment that lasts more than a year is, in principle, depreciated over several years. In practice most people deduct it at once. Anything that costs $2,500 or less per item can be expensed under the de minimis safe harbor, which you elect with a statement on your return. Above that, Section 179 or bonus depreciation, which is back at 100% for property bought after January 19, 2025, lets you take it all in year one.
Only the business share is deductible. If the laptop is 90% work and 10% personal, deduct 90%. Section 179 needs more than half business use.
A $1,899 laptop used 90% for work puts $1,709 on this year’s return.
Priced at 36¢ on the dollar, the rate of a $95,000 sole proprietor in California. Work out yours.
- Where it goes
- Schedule C line 22 or 18 under $2,500; line 13, depreciation, above it
- What to keep
- The receipt, and a note of the business share.
Checked on September 25, 2026 against Publication 946, How to Depreciate Property and Instructions for Schedule C. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
By the kind of work
What else each of these can deduct, and what they tend to miss.
See it on every receipt.
Snap it and Reimburse files it on the right Schedule C line, takes the deductible share and shows what it puts back.