Year-end timing
Section 179 and year-end equipment timing
Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code lets a business expense qualifying equipment in the year it is placed in service. The phrase doing the work is placed in service — installed and in use. Not ordered, and not paid for. Equipment that arrives in January is a January asset, whatever date is on the invoice.
That puts a deadline on the order, not just on the decision. This page covers only that piece: when a studio needs to start in order to have apparatus installed and running before December 31. What qualifies, what the limits are, and what any of it is worth against a particular return are questions for the IRS rules and a tax professional. Stativum does not advise on tax.
Working backward from December 31
- 01
Installed and in use — December 31
The deduction attaches to the date equipment is placed in service, not the date it was ordered or paid for.
- 02
Delivery — mid-December
Installation and commissioning need a working week. The last week of December is not one.
- 03
Confirmed order — early October
Build and freight run about 10 weeks from a confirmed order.
- 04
Quote and approval — late September
Configuration, approval and payment sit between a quote and a confirmed order. That stretch runs on the studio's calendar more than on ours.
- 05
First conversation — mid-September
Q4 is peak season for ocean freight and port handling. A timeline that holds in June holds less well in November.
Mid-September is a recommendation, not a commitment. Every date above is an estimate. A quote is where a specific timeline is confirmed in writing, for a specific configuration and a specific address.
Common questions
Does ordering before December 31 count?
No. The equipment has to be placed in service — installed and in use — by December 31. An order placed in December that installs in January belongs to the following tax year.
What if a studio starts later than September?
It may still work. Peak-season freight is the variable nobody controls, so a later start carries more timing risk rather than a closed door. The dates get looked at against a real address at quote stage.
Is the lead time measured from payment?
It runs from a confirmed order. Configuration and approval happen before that point, so the calendar a studio actually experiences is longer than the build-and-freight window alone.
Does Stativum handle the tax side?
No. We supply equipment. Section 179 appears here only because its deadline is a delivery deadline. The IRS publishes the rules and a tax professional applies them to a specific business.