So you bought a laptop in the EOFY sales

It's on the desk, it's genuinely for the business, and a voice in the back of your mind says: I can write this off, right?

The question behind the question

"Can I write this off?" is rarely the real question. The real question is how much, and when. And for a small business (aggregated turnover under $10 million), the 2025-26 answer is unusually good: anything costing less than $20,000 can come off your taxable income in full under the instant asset write-off, this year, the year you actually spent the money. Per asset, not per year, so the mower, the trailer and the laptop can each qualify.

It shows its working

You tell your agent what happened: bought a laptop in May, $2,899, mostly for work. It doesn't reply with a number pulled from the air. It runs every method you're eligible for as an actual schedule, the same formulas the law prescribes, and where a method doesn't apply, it says so and tells you why instead of quietly leaving it out.

For the laptop the answer is short: under the threshold, 80% business use, $2,319 off this year's taxable income, with the section behind it (ITAA 1997 s 328-180). Some choices the law leaves to you, like prime cost versus diminishing value on bigger assets. It won't pretend to make them. It puts both schedules side by side, cited, and the decision stays where it belongs: with you.

Then there's the ute

Dan landscapes his way across the northern suburbs. Same year, two purchases: the $2,899 laptop, and a $24,000 ute. The laptop is easy, as above. The ute is over the line, so it takes the slower road: the small business pool. 15% in the first year ($3,600), then 30% of what's left each year after ($6,120, then $4,284, and so on down). Slower, but it all gets there.

And a rule almost nobody mentions: if the whole pool ever dips under the write-off threshold at 30 June, the entire balance can come off at once. His agent tracks that against the year's threshold so he doesn't have to.

Dan is made up. The thresholds, rates and pool mechanics are real for 2025-26 (ITAA 1997 Subdiv 328-D).

Before the EOFY sales get you again

Two traps, both cheap to avoid. The asset has to be first used, or installed ready for use, by 30 June: ordered, paid for and sitting in a warehouse doesn't count. And the $20,000 is GST-exclusive if you're registered (you claim that GST back on your BAS anyway), which means a $21,500 sticker price can still sneak under.

A change to the threshold for 2026-27 has been announced but is not yet law, and that's exactly why the answers come with dates and sources: the rule you remember is so often the rule from a different year. None of this is tax advice. For the big calls, take the schedules and the citations to a registered tax agent and make the decision together.

The questions everyone asks eventually

Is the write-off money back in my pocket?

No, it's a deduction: it reduces your taxable income, so the cash benefit is roughly your marginal tax rate times the deduction. A $2,000 write-off does not refund $2,000.

Can I write off more than one asset?

Yes. The $20,000 threshold applies per asset, so a $12,000 mower, a $9,000 trailer and a $3,000 laptop can each be written off in full in the same year, provided each is used or installed ready for use in that year.

What about cars?

Cars have their own cap: the car limit ($69,674 for 2025-26) caps the cost you can depreciate regardless of what you paid. Many utes and vans designed to carry a tonne or more are not "cars" for this rule, so ask with the specific vehicle in hand and your agent can check the definition and the current limit, cited.

Can I claim it if I bought the asset on finance?

Generally yes: eligibility follows the asset's cost and when it was first used, not how you paid. Interest on a business loan is a separate deduction question your agent can check, with its own source.

Do second-hand assets qualify?

For the small business instant asset write-off, yes: new or second-hand. One trap the tool flags: for residential rental properties, second-hand depreciating assets acquired after 9 May 2017 are generally not deductible.

What happens when I sell the asset?

A balancing adjustment: the sale proceeds are compared with the asset's remaining value and the difference is assessable or deductible. For pooled assets, proceeds reduce the pool balance instead. Worth asking about before you sell, not after.

Is the 2026-27 threshold locked in?

Not yet. A change has been announced but has not become law, and under current law the $20,000 limit applies to assets first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026. Because the corpus rebuilds monthly and thresholds are stored per year, your agent's answer updates when the law does.

Two minutes to connect. The laptop isn't going to write itself off.

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