MACRS Property Classes: What Goes Where
The recovery period comes from the asset class (Pub 946 ch. 4 and Table B-1). Common choices:
- 3-year property — tractor units for over-the-road use, some manufacturing tools
- 5-year property — computers, office machinery, cars and light trucks, research equipment
- 7-year property — office furniture and fixtures, most machinery and equipment
- 10-year property — vessels, single-purpose agricultural structures
- 15-year property — land improvements such as paving, fences and landscaping
- 20-year property — farm buildings, municipal sewers
- Nonresidential real property (39-year) — offices, shops, warehouses
- Qualified improvement property (15-year S/L) — interior improvements to a nonresidential building after it was first placed in service (not enlargements, elevators or the structure)
- Residential rental property (27.5-year) — rental houses and apartment buildings
- Off-the-shelf software (36-month S/L) — off-the-shelf computer software, depreciated straight-line over 36 months
- Land (not depreciable) — land itself
Check Table B-1 / B-2 for your activity's class life. Land isn't depreciable.
Last reviewed 2026-10-28. General information, not tax advice. IRS Publication 946, the Form 4562 instructions and your tax adviser decide what applies.