Year-end 2026

Buy Your Equipter 4000 Before December 31

Section 179 lets qualifying equipment be deducted the year it is placed in service, not spread across five. The window closes December 31 — and because the machine has to be delivered by then, not merely ordered, your real deadline falls earlier than the calendar suggests.

Updated September 29, 2026 · By the Equipter team, Leola, PA

What changed for 2026

Section 179 of the tax code lets a business deduct the cost of qualifying equipment in the year it is placed in service, rather than depreciating it over several years. Two things about it are different now than most contractors remember.

The deduction limit for the 2026 tax year is $2,560,000, with the phase-out threshold starting at $4,090,000. For a contractor buying one machine, neither ceiling is the constraint — they matter to fleet buyers and to shops making several large purchases in the same year.

The second change is the one worth knowing. Bonus depreciation at 100% was made permanent under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for qualifying property placed in service after January 19, 2025. It was scheduled to step down and disappear; it no longer does. Unlike Section 179, bonus depreciation has no dollar cap and no business-income limit, which is why it often does the heavier lifting on an equipment purchase.

What that combination means in practice: for most roofing contractors buying a single piece of equipment, the full purchase price can be deducted in the year the machine goes to work, instead of spread across five.

The deadline that actually matters

Equipment has to be purchased and placed in service by the end of your tax year — December 31 for calendar-year filers. Placed in service means on your lot and ready to work. Not ordered. Not in production. Not on a truck somewhere in Ohio.

Which means December 31 is not your deadline. Your deadline is whatever order date leaves enough time to build and deliver the machine before December 31, and that date depends on your configuration and the build queue.

Contractors who wait until the second week of December are usually buying a 2027 machine whether they intended to or not.

Does the Equipter 4000 qualify?

Most tangible business equipment qualifies for Section 179, including debris and material handling equipment used in your business. The general conditions:

• Business use above 50%. The equipment has to be used more than half the time for business.
• New or used both count. The equipment needs to be new to you, not new from the factory — which means a refurbished unit can be eligible too.
• Placed in service inside the tax year. The condition covered above, and the one that trips people up.
• Purchased, not leased. Lease structures are treated differently. If you are financing, ask how your specific agreement is classified.

State treatment varies. Some states conform to the federal rules, others cap or decouple from Section 179 and bonus depreciation. Your accountant will know how your state handles it.

What the Equipter 4000 does on a tear-off

The tax treatment changes when to buy. It does not change whether the machine earns its keep. That part comes down to what happens on the job.

The Equipter® 4000 is towed to the job, unhitched, and driven under its own power to the side of the house. The container lifts 4,000 lbs to 12′0″ and holds 4.1 cubic yards, so the crew drops tear-off straight in from the eave instead of carrying it across the lawn or throwing it onto tarps and loading it twice. It rolls back 4 feet, which lets the container reach over shrubs, AC units and flower beds rather than parking in them.

The debris gets handled once: off the roof, into the container, to the dump. The driveway keeps its surface, the lawn keeps its grass, and the homeowner gets a job site worth mentioning to a neighbor. That is what New Roof No Mess® describes — not a slogan about the machine, but what the property looks like when the crew leaves.

A 12-foot lift covers the eave on most one- and two-story homes. It will not reach a third story. If most of your work is taller than two stories, say so on the call and we will tell you straight whether this is the right machine.

Year-end checklist

Before you decide, work through these in order:

1. Call your accountant first. Ask what a qualifying equipment purchase does to this year's return, and how your state treats Section 179 and bonus depreciation.
2. Confirm the delivery timeline. Your configuration determines the build time. Get the real order-by date for your spec, not a general one.
3. Decide new or refurbished. Both can qualify. A refurbished unit changes the price and often the availability.
4. Sort financing early if you need it. Financing approval sits inside your timeline, not outside it, and it is the most common reason a year-end order misses the window.
5. Check the lift height against your typical job. Two stories and under, the 4000 fits. Consistently taller, it does not.
6. Place the order with enough runway. Ordering the week before Christmas is ordering a 2027 machine.

Answers

Frequently asked questions

Build it before the year closes

Spec your Equipter 4000 and see pricing, or call and we will confirm whether the delivery timeline still works for this tax year.

Equipter does not provide tax advice. This page is general information only and is not a recommendation about your tax position. State treatment of Section 179 and bonus depreciation varies. Consult your tax professional.

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