If you used an accelerated method of depreciation, any gain you have on the sale attributable to this depreciation must be recaptured and reported as ordinary income. If you used straight-line depreciation, you may not have to report any recapture as ordinary income, but any gain computed would be considered capital gain income.

You must report the full amount of depreciation, allowed or allowable, up to the date of disposal when reporting the asset’s disposal on the Federal Form 4797 Sales of Business Property, to compute the correct amount of gain.

The gain is computed on Lines 20 thru 24 of Form 4797. Any depreciation you have claimed in the past reduces your basis and thus would increase your gain when you sell it. The entries for the disposal will be reported on Form 4797, Part III. An amount on Line 31 of this form would represent ordinary income recapture. An amount on Line 32 will be treated as capital gain income.

To access Form 4797, go to our Form 4797 - Sale of Business Property Sale of Asset Entry into Program FAQ.

To review Schedule D, you need to view it as a print PDF. If you need help, go to our Printing Your Return and Individual Forms FAQ.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the webpage or document at the time it is accessed.