Which Code section sets the depreciation method and recovery period for tangible business property (MACRS)?
Section 168 is the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS): it fixes the depreciation method, recovery period, and convention used to compute the deduction for most tangible business property.
The answer
The MACRS computation
26 U.S.C. § 168(a) provides that the depreciation deduction for tangible property is determined by using the applicable depreciation method, the applicable recovery period, and the applicable convention. Sections 168(b), (c), and (e) then supply those inputs, including the 200-percent declining balance method and the property-class recovery periods.
Method versus general allowance
Section 167 grants the general depreciation allowance as a reasonable deduction for exhaustion and wear and tear, but for property placed in service after 1986 the actual method, period, and convention come from the MACRS rules in Section 168.
The judged input
What the AI drafted
Submitted to the judgeThis is an excerpt from a draft tax compliance memo — the kind of work product a lawyer generates with a legal-AI drafting tool, then has to stand behind. Kingsfield does not write it; it rules on the citations the model put in it. This draft cites two authorities; one of them is wrong.
The judge ruled on every citation as the draft used it — it accepted 26 U.S.C. § 168(a) and rejected 26 U.S.C. § 167. Here is why.
The verdict
How Kingsfield ruled
Ruled 2026-06-23Each citation in the draft above was submitted to the Kingsfield judge and ruled against the primary-law corpus — Accept, Reject, or Inconclusive, per citation. These are live verdicts, not editorial. Each card shows the claim the draft made and the verbatim authority the verdict was rendered against.
The draft claimed: The depreciation deduction for any tangible property is determined by using the applicable depreciation method, the applicable recovery period, and the applicable convention.
“§ 168(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the depreciation deduction provided by section 167(a) for any tangible property shall be determined by using—”
Cite found; proposition supported by the cited text.
The draft claimed: Section 167 is the provision that prescribes the specific MACRS recovery periods and the 200-percent declining balance depreciation method for tangible property placed in service.
Cite found, but the cited text does not support the claim. 26 U.S.C. 167 grants only the general allowance for a reasonable depreciation deduction; the specific MACRS method, recovery period, and convention are prescribed by 26 U.S.C. 168. Regenerate with the correct authority.
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Connect the Judge See the architectureThis page is legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The draft shown is an illustration of a typical AI answer; verdicts reflect the cited authority in the Kingsfield corpus as of the ruling date shown above.