Is a Facial Bed or Massage Table a One-Time Deduction or Depreciated?
Updated: Sep 3
It depends on the cost and how you choose to treat it — most facial beds qualify for Section 179, which lets you deduct the full cost in the year of purchase, but you can also choose to depreciate it over several years instead if that works out better for your specific tax situation.
A facial or treatment bed is considered equipment rather than a supply, since it's a higher-cost item expected to last for years rather than being used up. Under Section 179, equipment like this can generally be deducted in full immediately in the year you buy it, as long as it's used primarily for your business — which for most independent estheticians and mobile providers, it is.
The alternative is depreciation, where you spread the deduction out over the equipment's useful life (typically several years for furniture and equipment like this) instead of taking it all at once. Some estheticians choose depreciation in a lower-income year, planning to have larger deductions available in future years when their income — and tax bracket — might be higher. There's no single right answer; it depends on your income pattern and how you want to plan your deductions over time.
A simple way to decide:
Take the full deduction now (Section 179) if you want to maximize this year's deduction, especially in a high-income year
Depreciate over time if you expect steadier or increasing income and want to spread deductions across future years
Other treatment room equipment treated the same way:
LED light therapy devices
Steamers and wax warmers
Magnifying lamps and specialized chairs
A common mistake: estheticians assume equipment always has to be depreciated over several years, when in most cases Section 179 allows the full cost to be deducted immediately, and depreciation is simply an optional alternative, not a requirement.
BossTax's free app flags equipment purchases like this and shows you what the deduction looks like under each option, so you can decide what fits your situation.
Curious which option makes more sense for your business this year? Book a free intro call and we'll walk through it together. Click here.
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