Section 179 in 2026: Deduct Office Equipment This Year
What if the copier your team has been nursing along for three years could cost you a lot less than its sticker price? Under the 2026 Section 179 deduction, a business that buys qualifying equipment and has it up and running by December 31 can generally write off the full purchase price on this year’s return, instead of spreading it over five years or more.
With only weeks left in the year, here is what Metro Atlanta businesses need to know, and how to time a purchase so it counts.
Why this matters right now
Most businesses replace office equipment when it breaks, not when it makes financial sense. That habit is expensive in two ways. Aging multifunction printers drive up service calls, toner waste, and downtime, which are some of the hidden costs in your current print environment. And waiting until January means a purchase you were going to make anyway lands on next year’s taxes instead of this year’s.
The 2025 tax law made this year-end window better than it has been in a long time. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act more than doubled the Section 179 limit and permanently brought back 100% bonus depreciation. For a typical office, that means the federal cap is no longer a practical concern. The real constraint is the calendar. If you’re already building next year’s plan, it’s also worth checking for hidden technology costs before you finalize your 2027 budget.
What Section 179 is, in plain terms
Normally, when you buy business equipment, you deduct its cost a little at a time over its useful life through depreciation. Section 179 of the tax code lets you elect to deduct the entire cost in the year the equipment is placed in service.
The 2026 numbers, set by the IRS in Rev. Proc. 2025-32:
- Maximum deduction: $2,560,000
- Phase-out threshold: the deduction shrinks dollar-for-dollar once you place more than $4,090,000 of qualifying equipment in service during the year
- Bonus depreciation: 100% for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, and it can apply after Section 179
One difference worth knowing: the Section 179 deduction can’t exceed your business’s taxable income for the year, while bonus depreciation has no such cap. Your CPA will decide which to use, or how to combine them.
What qualifies from Repro Products
Section 179 covers tangible business equipment and off-the-shelf software, new or used, as long as it is new to you and used for business more than half the time. For most of what we sell, that is a clear fit:
- Multifunction printers and copiers, including Xerox AltaLink and VersaLink models and the Lexmark 9 Series
- Wide format printers from HP and KIP for plans, drawings, and signage
- Production print equipment for in-plant and print-for-pay operations
- Mailing systems such as FP folder-inserters and mail-processing equipment
Ongoing service, supplies, and managed print services fees are ordinary operating expenses. They are deductible as you pay them, not under Section 179.
Buy, finance, or lease: how each one is treated
This is where most of the confusion lives.
Buying outright. The full cost can qualify in the year the equipment is placed in service.
Financing. Financed equipment can qualify for the full deduction this year, even though you pay for it over time. If your deduction is larger than your payments for the year, you are cash-flow positive on the purchase in year one.
Capital lease or $1 buyout lease. These are generally treated as a purchase for tax purposes, so they can qualify too.
Fair market value (FMV) lease. A true operating lease is not a purchase, so Section 179 doesn’t apply. The upside is that lease payments are generally deductible as a business expense as you make them.
If you are weighing the options, our earlier post on leasing versus buying a copier walks through the tradeoffs. Not every lease type qualifies. Your lease paperwork, not the word “lease,” decides the tax treatment, so share it with your accountant.
A simple example
Your tax savings equal your tax rate times the amount you deduct. Say your office makes a $75,000 qualifying equipment purchase, such as a few multifunction printers, a wide format printer, and a folder-inserter, and everything is installed and in use by mid-December.
| Amount | |
| Qualifying equipment purchase | $75,000 |
| Section 179 deduction (100%) | $75,000 |
| Estimated tax savings at a 35% tax rate | $26,250 |
Without Section 179, you would recover that $75,000 gradually through depreciation over several years. With it, the full amount comes off your 2026 taxable income, which lowers the effective cost of the equipment to about $48,750.
These numbers are illustrative. Your real savings depend on your tax rate, entity type, and state. To run your own numbers, try the Section 179 calculator to estimate your first-year write-off, tax savings, and after-tax equipment cost.
How to make the December 31 deadline
The rule that trips people up: the equipment must be placed in service by December 31, 2026. That means installed, set up, and ready for use. A signed order or a box in the warehouse does not count.
Here is a working timeline:
- Now through mid-November: Talk with your CPA about how much you can use, then talk with us about what your office needs. We will review your current fleet and print volumes.
- By early December: Finalize the order and the purchase or finance agreement. This leaves room for shipping and scheduling.
- By mid-December: Delivery, installation, network setup, and user training.
- Keep the paperwork: the invoice, the finance or lease agreement, and the delivery and installation records showing the in-service date.
Holiday weeks fill up quickly for installation crews. The earlier you order, the less you depend on a December 30 install going perfectly.
A note on Georgia
State tax rules don’t always follow federal ones. Georgia has historically not adopted federal bonus depreciation, so your state deduction may differ from your federal one. Your accountant can tell you how this plays out on your Georgia return.
Key takeaways
- For 2026, you can expense up to $2,560,000 of qualifying equipment, and 100% bonus depreciation is back for good.
- Copiers, MFPs, wide format printers, production equipment, mailing systems, all qualify, whether new or new to you. Purchases and finance agreements count; FMV leases generally don’t.
- The equipment has to be installed and in use by December 31, so plan your order now.
Ready to keep more of your profits in 2026? Call Repro Products at 770-434-3050, contact us online, or reach out to your account rep to schedule a quick fleet review. We will help you pick the right equipment and lock in delivery and installation before year-end.
Repro Products, Inc. · Est. 1979 · 4485 Atlanta Road, Smyrna, GA 30080 · reproproducts.com
This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Section 179 and bonus depreciation depend on your specific circumstances. Please consult a qualified tax professional before making purchasing decisions based on tax benefits.