Where the elections live on an asset

Elections are grouped rather than scattered among the depreciation fields, because they are the inputs most often revisited late. Section 179 sits on the asset. Bonus is set on the return. ADS is chosen when you create the asset.

On the Tax tab, headed Elections.

Section 179 Election. Enter a dollar amount. The hint under it reads Max: followed by the asset's own original cost, so an asset costing $35,000 shows "Max: $35,000". On the Add asset form, an amount above the cost gets a red line: "Election cannot exceed original cost".

What you type is the amount elected. The panel on the right shows Section 179 as the amount allowed, after the return's limits are applied across every asset claiming it.

There is no per-asset bonus control. The Elections section says so and links out:

Bonus election is set per recovery class on the return. Open the return to edit class-level bonus elections.

Under it, a line tells you what the asset qualifies for based on its placed-in-service date. It names the rate, so you get "Eligible for 60% bonus" or "Eligible for 100% bonus" depending on when the asset went into service, or "Not eligible for bonus".

Open the return takes you to the return's History tab. The panel there is headed Bonus Elections (per recovery class), and it lists the current election for each class. Click Edit bonus elections to change them.

In that window, choose Elect out for this class or Do not elect out for each recovery class, then click Apply. Two things to expect:

Your choice applies to every qualified asset in that class on that return.

If the window reports that no classes were found, the return has no assets in those classes placed in service in its tax year. Assets carried over from earlier years are not part of this year's election.

Nonresidential real property gets an Elections section too, and it opens with a question:

Is this a qualifying improvement under §179(e)(2) — roof, HVAC, fire protection and alarm, or security system?

Answer Yes and the Section 179 Election field appears, with the same Max hint as any other asset. Answer No, or leave it unanswered, and no election field is offered.

Change the answer after entering an amount and the amount is cleared. The page tells you it happened: "The Section 179 election of $X was cleared when the designation changed."

Residential rental property is not asked the question, and has no election field. Its box names the reason and the citation it rests on:

Section 179: a 27.5-year recovery period is residential rental property · IRC §179(d)(1), §179(e)

The sentence names the asset's own recovery period, so an asset you elected ADS for reads "a 30-year recovery period" instead. Both periods are residential rental property, and neither is eligible.

Both kinds of real property carry the same bonus line: "Bonus depreciation is not available for real property. Mid-month convention will be applied based on the month placed in service."

Elect Alternative Depreciation System (ADS) is a checkbox on the Add asset form, in Depreciation Settings, not in Elections. It renders only for real property and qualified improvement property.

Make this election when you create the asset. The checkbox is not on an existing asset's Tax tab, so it is not something you can review or change there afterwards.

Tick it and the recovery period changes:

The recovery period control updates to match and stays disabled, because the property type decides it. Ticking ADS also sets the method to ADS.

Units of Production gets its own box:

Units of Production Depreciation. Section 179 and bonus depreciation are not available for UOP method. Depreciation is calculated based on actual usage: (Current Units / Total Units) x Depreciable Basis.

Intangible / Capitalized Cost gets a blue box too, and which one depends on whether the asset's recovery Method is set to Monthly straight-line.

With the method set, so the asset amortizes:

Before the recovery profile is filled in:

Recovery profile not yet assigned. Section 179 and bonus depreciation elections are not taken for an Intangible / Capitalized Cost asset, so the controls are not shown and any election on the asset is cleared when it is saved. Assigning the recovery profile sets how the asset amortizes; it does not make these elections available.

The second box says the part worth reading twice: filling in the recovery profile moves the asset to the first box. It does not bring the election controls back. An intangible never shows them, and an election already stored on the asset is cleared the next time it is saved.

Land gets its own box too:

There is nothing to elect on land, so the section has no inputs at all.

The Section 179 Election field is this year's amount. §179 already deducted in an earlier year belongs in Prior §179 Depreciation, in the Prior Depreciation Taken section lower down the same tab.

The field's own hint draws the line: "§179 actually deducted in prior years — different from this year's Section 179 Election above."

See Record prior depreciation on an asset.

Change an election and click Save & recalculate. The panel recomputes with the edit applied.