Because "what does this actually cost me after taxes?" deserves a better answer than "ask your CPA."
Every fall, the same conversation happens on our sales calls. A practice owner has a quote in front of them for a C-arm or an ultrasound system. They know Section 179 exists. They know it is supposed to help. What they do not know is what the number at the bottom of that quote really costs them once the deduction lands.
The honest answer involves a deduction cap, a phase-out threshold, bonus depreciation, a marginal rate, and a hard December 31 deadline. Nobody works that out on a phone call. So most people either guess, or they put the decision off until they can get their accountant on the line, which in November is not a fast process.
We built a calculator to close that gap. It is live now at equippedmd.com/pages/section-179-calculator, it is free, and it does not ask for your email.
What it does
Pick your modality, enter the number from your quote, and pick your tax situation. The calculator shows you, line by line:
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Your Section 179 deduction, including the phase-out if you are buying more than $4,090,000 of equipment this year
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Bonus depreciation on any remaining basis
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Your total first-year deduction
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Your estimated tax savings
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What the equipment actually costs you after that saving
There is also a financing panel. Enter a term and a rate, and it compares your first twelve months of payments against your first-year tax savings. For a lot of year-end purchases, the savings come out ahead, which is the part most people find genuinely surprising.
Why a medical-specific one
There are good general Section 179 calculators out there. We use them ourselves. But they are built for a landscaping company buying a truck, and the math is the same while the context is not.
A practice owner needs to know that a refurbished C-arm qualifies for exactly the same deduction as a new one, as long as it is new to them. They need price bands that reflect what imaging equipment actually costs, not a blank box. And they need someone to tell them plainly that a CT install is not a December decision, because site prep, power, and shielding sit ahead of the in-service date.
So we built those things in. The equipment presets start you inside a realistic range for your modality and let you type your exact quote. The FAQ answers the six questions we get every Q4, including how rental conversions and rent-to-purchase credit affect the timing.
The deadline is the install date, not the invoice date
This is the single most misunderstood part of Section 179, and it is the reason we put a countdown at the top of the page.
The deduction follows the date the equipment is placed in service, meaning delivered, installed, and ready for patient use. Not the date you sign. Not the date you pay. If a system shows up on December 28 and goes live on January 4, the write-off lands on next year's return.
Lead times vary enormously by modality. A portable ultrasound can ship and be working within days. A mobile C-arm typically needs a few weeks for delivery and applications training. A fixed room is a months-long path. By late fall, the calendar is usually the constraint, not the equipment.
If you are thinking about a year-end purchase, the useful question is not "can I still buy?" It is "what can still be installed?" That one we can answer in a phone call.
One important caveat
The calculator is an estimate, not tax advice. We sell equipment. We are not a CPA firm, and we are careful about that line.
The biggest thing the estimate cannot see is your taxable income. Section 179 cannot exceed your net taxable business income, and any unused portion carries forward. There are also state conformity rules that treat bonus depreciation very differently from Section 179, which is why the calculator shows you the split between the two rather than one blended number. Take the output to your accountant and let them run the real version.
Try it
The calculator is here: Section 179 Calculator for Medical Equipment
If you want pricing on a specific system, or an honest read on whether it can be installed before December 31, send us the modality and your timeline or call 833-838-8380. We will tell you either way.
