Can You Write Off a Laptop as a Freelancer? Equipment Deductions in 2026

Ask a new freelancer what their business actually costs and the answer usually starts with gear: a laptop, a second monitor, a phone, a camera, a mic. Those purchases are real freelancer costs — and a business-use laptop is generally deductible. The question is how fast: all in the year you buy it, or spread over several years.

This guide walks through the three main ways US sole proprietors and single-member LLCs filing Schedule C can deduct equipment for tax year 2026 — the de minimis safe harbor, the Section 179 election, and bonus (special) depreciation — plus regular depreciation, the business-use rules that trip people up, a worked example, and where it all goes on your return. Every dollar figure below comes from IRS publications, revenue procedures, and notices, linked at the end.

Equipment deduction options at a glance (2026)

Sources: IRS tangible property regulations page, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (section 4.24), Publication 946, Notice 2026-11, and the Schedule C instructions.

Option 1: the $2,500 de minimis safe harbor

For most freelancers this is the simplest route for everyday gear. Under the IRS tangible property regulations, you can elect a de minimis safe harbor that lets you deduct amounts paid for tangible property “to the extent such amounts are deducted by you … in keeping your books and records.” If you don’t have an applicable financial statement (an audited statement — most freelancers don’t), the limit is $2,500 per invoice or item, as substantiated by the invoice. (Businesses with an AFS get $5,000.)

• It’s an annual election. The IRS says to attach a statement titled “Section 1.263(a)-1(f) de minimis safe harbor election” to your timely filed original return (including extensions), with your name, address, taxpayer ID, and a statement that you’re making the election. Tax software usually handles this with a checkbox.
• Per item, not per year. A $1,900 laptop, a $400 monitor, and a $250 headset each qualify on their own. A single $3,000 laptop does not — it’s over the per-item limit, so you’d use Section 179, bonus depreciation, or regular depreciation instead.
• Expense it in your books too. The safe harbor follows how you treat the purchase in your own records, so log these items as expenses, not as assets.
• Exclusions. The IRS notes the safe harbor doesn’t cover inventory or land.

Because de minimis items are deducted like other ordinary business expenses, they don’t need Form 4562. Keep the receipts and record them in a consistent category — see freelance expense categories.

Option 2: Section 179 expensing

Section 179 lets you elect to deduct the cost of qualifying business property (like computers and other equipment) in the year you place it in service, instead of depreciating it. For tax years beginning in 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the maximum at $2,560,000, reduced once the cost of section 179 property you place in service during the year exceeds $4,090,000. Publication 946’s “What’s New for 2026” repeats the same figures. Those caps are far above anything a solo freelancer buys, so in practice two other limits matter more:

• Business income limit. Per Publication 946, the deduction can’t exceed your taxable income from the active conduct of any trade or business during the year. For this purpose that includes wages, salaries, and tips you earned as an employee — useful if you freelance on the side of a W-2 job. It’s figured without the section 179 deduction itself or the self-employment tax deduction. Anything disallowed carries forward to next year.
• More than 50% business use. Publication 946 says that when you use property for both business and personal purposes, you can elect Section 179 “only if you use the property more than 50% for business in the year you place it in service,” and only on the business-use share of the cost.

You make the election on Form 4562, Part I. Publication 946 also lets you revoke a section 179 election on an amended return filed within the normal time limit.

Option 3: 100% bonus depreciation

Bonus depreciation — the IRS calls it the special depreciation allowance — lets you deduct the full business cost of qualified property (equipment like computers generally qualifies) in its first year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21) reinstated 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, and Notice 2026-11 describes it as “a permanent 100 percent additional first year depreciation deduction.” The old 20-point-per-year phasedown is gone, so a laptop you buy and start using in 2026 generally qualifies at 100%.

• It’s the default. If property qualifies, the allowance applies unless you elect out. Per Publication 946, you can elect, for any class of property, not to deduct it for all property in that class placed in service that year, by attaching a statement to your return. (For a tax year that included January 19, 2025 only, you could also elect 40% instead of 100%.)
• No business-income cap like Section 179’s. The business income limit in Publication 946 is a Section 179 rule. That’s why many people treat bonus depreciation as the fallback when Section 179 is limited — but deducting more than you earn has its own effects, so look at the whole return.
• Listed property still needs more than 50% business use. For listed property (below), Publication 946 says that if it isn’t used more than 50% for qualified business use, you can’t claim Section 179 or a special depreciation allowance.

Regular depreciation (when you don’t take it all at once)

If you elect out of bonus depreciation and skip Section 179 — or the item doesn’t qualify — you depreciate it under MACRS. Computers and peripheral equipment are 5-year property, and with the common half-year convention the first-year deduction is 20% of the business-use cost (Publication 946, Table A-1), with the rest spread over the following years. Depreciation starts when the property is placed in service — which Publication 946 defines as when it’s “ready and available for a specific use” — not when you order it.

Why would anyone choose the slower route? Mainly timing: a deduction is worth more in a higher-income year. If 2026 is a low-income start-up year and you expect much higher profit later, spreading the deduction can save more over time. It’s a planning call worth running past a tax professional.

Mixed business and personal use

Most freelancers use their laptop or phone for personal things too. The rules:

• Deduct only the business-use share. A $3,000 laptop used 75% for business has a $2,250 business cost; the personal 25% isn’t deductible.
• Section 179 needs more than 50% business use in the year you place the item in service (Publication 946).
• Recapture if use drops. Publication 946 says you may have to recapture a Section 179 deduction if, in any year of the property’s recovery period, business use drops to 50% or less — the recapture is ordinary income reported on Form 4797.
• Listed property gets extra scrutiny. Publication 946’s current list of listed property is passenger automobiles, business aircraft, other transportation property, and “property generally used for entertainment, recreation, or amusement (including photographic, phonographic, communication, and video recording equipment).” Cameras and video gear can fall in that last group, so keep a usage log. Cell phones were removed from listed property by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (IRS Notice 2011-72), and computers placed in service after 2017 are no longer on the list.
• Keep records. A simple log of business vs. personal use for a representative period, plus receipts, is the practical way to support your percentage. Notice 2011-72 summarizes the heightened substantiation rules that apply to listed property.

Worked example: a 2026 laptop and workstation

Maya is a freelance video editor filing Schedule C. In February 2026 she buys and sets up two items:

What does $4,750 of extra deductions save? Schedule C deductions reduce net profit, which lowers both taxes:

• Self-employment tax: SE tax is generally 15.3% of 92.35% of net earnings (below the Social Security wage base). $4,750 × 92.35% × 15.3% ≈ $671.
• Income tax: in the 22% bracket, after the smaller deductible half of SE tax and a smaller QBI deduction (20% of qualified business income), taxable income drops by about $3,530 — roughly $777 of federal income tax.
• Total: roughly $1,450 in 2026 federal tax. The gear still cost $5,600 — a deduction gives back part of the price, it doesn’t make it free.

To see the effect on your own numbers, run your profit with and without the purchase in the 1099 tax calculator or the self-employment tax calculator. Bracket context: 2026 tax brackets for the self-employed; QBI details: QBI deduction for freelancers.

Where it goes on your return

• Schedule C line 13 is “Depreciation and section 179 expense deduction.” The Schedule C instructions (2025) say to attach Form 4562 only if you’re claiming depreciation on property placed in service during the year, depreciation on listed property (any year), or a Section 179 deduction.
• De minimis items are deducted as ordinary business expenses, consistent with your books (for example, alongside supplies or office expenses), with the election statement attached to the return.
• Supplies vs. equipment. The Schedule C instructions put office supplies and postage on line 18 and materials and supplies you actually used on line 22. A laptop or camera is equipment, not a supply — so it goes through one of the methods above.
• State returns can differ. Some states don’t follow federal bonus depreciation or Section 179 limits, so your state deduction may be smaller or spread out. Check your state’s instructions.

Equipment isn’t the only cost of working for yourself. For the rest of the overhead you should price in, see freelance platform and payment fees, the home office deduction, and the freelance rate calculator, which builds expenses into the hourly rate you need.

Quick checklist

1. Save every receipt; note the date each item was set up and ready to use (placed in service).
2. Estimate business-use percentage and keep a simple usage log, especially for cameras and video gear.
3. Items up to $2,500 each: consider the de minimis safe harbor election (annual statement) and expense them in your books.
4. Bigger items: 100% bonus depreciation applies by default; Section 179 is an alternative if business use is over 50% and you have enough business income.
5. Decide whether a full write-off this year beats spreading it out, given this year’s vs. next year’s expected income.
6. Report on Schedule C line 13 with Form 4562 when required; check your state’s rules.

FAQ

Sources

• IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.24 (2026 section 179 limits: $2,560,000 / $4,090,000)
• IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property (2025; includes What’s New for 2026)
• IRS: Instructions for Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization (2025)
• IRS Notice 2026-11, Interim guidance on the additional first-year depreciation deduction under § 168(k)
• IRS: Tangible property final regulations (de minimis safe harbor election)
• IRS: Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) (2025)
• IRS Notice 2011-72 (cell phones removed from listed property by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010)
• IRS Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business (2025; includes What’s New for 2026)
• IRS Topic 554, Self-employment tax