U.S. · Tax forms
Form 4562 line 19: MACRS classes.
Which class your asset belongs to, from 3-year property to 39-year real property.
Line 19 lists assets placed in service this year and depreciated under the General Depreciation System, sorted by class: 3-, 5-, 7-, 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-year property, residential rental property (27.5 years), and nonresidential real property (39 years). Railroad gradings and tunnel bores are 50-year property. If your asset is not listed in the instructions, find its class life in Pub. 946 and use the class life table. Listed property such as automobiles is reported in Part V instead.
Look up a class
Result
Classes and examples from the 2025 instructions
| Item | Meaning | Where it goes (per the IRS instructions) |
|---|---|---|
| 3-year | 3-year property | Race horses more than 2 years old when placed in service; other horses more than 12 years old; qualified rent-to-own property. |
| 5-year | 5-year property | Automobiles; light general purpose trucks; typewriters, calculators, copiers and duplicating equipment; qualified technological equipment; appliances, carpets and furniture used in a rental real estate activity; certain new farm machinery. |
| 7-year | 7-year property | Office furniture and equipment; railroad track; used farm machinery and equipment, grain bins, cotton ginning assets and fences; property with no class life that is not otherwise classified. |
| 10-year | 10-year property | Vessels, barges, tugs; single purpose agricultural or horticultural structures; trees or vines bearing fruits or nuts; qualified smart electric meters and grid property. |
| 15-year | 15-year property | Municipal wastewater treatment plants; telephone distribution plant; retail motor fuels outlets; qualified improvement property placed in service after 2017. |
| 20-year | 20-year property | Farm buildings other than single purpose structures; municipal sewers not classified as 25-year; initial clearing and grading for electric utility transmission and distribution plants. |
| 25-year | 25-year property | Water utility property: an integral part of gathering, treating or commercially distributing water, plus municipal sewers. |
| 27.5-year | Residential rental property | A building in which 80% or more of the total rent is from dwelling units. Straight line, mid-month. |
| 39-year | Nonresidential real property | Real property that is neither residential rental property nor property with a class life of less than 27.5 years. Straight line, mid-month. |
Not listed? Use the class life
Find the property’s class life in the Table of Class Lives and Recovery Periods in Pub. 946, then map it: class life of 4 or less is 3-year property; more than 4 but less than 10 is 5-year; 10 or more but less than 16 is 7-year; 16 or more but less than 20 is 10-year; 20 or more but less than 25 is 15-year; 25 or more is 20-year property.
Methods and conventions in the instructions
For 3-, 5-, 7- and 10-year property the usual method is 200% declining balance, switching to straight line when that gives a larger deduction; 15- and 20-year property uses 150% declining balance. Water utility property, residential rental property, nonresidential real property and railroad gradings or tunnel bores use straight line only. You can make an irrevocable election to use straight line for a whole class. See the convention codes page for HY, MQ and MM.
Basis for column (c)
Basis for depreciation is cost or other basis multiplied by the percentage of business or investment use, less credits and deductions allocable to the property, such as the section 179 deduction and any special depreciation allowance included on line 14.
Worked example
Ana buys a machine with a published class life of 12 years that the instructions do not list by name. A class life of 10 or more but less than 16 maps to 7-year property, so it goes in the 7-year row of line 19. Her new office desks are office furniture, also 7-year property. Her studio building is nonresidential real property, 39 years.
More IRS form line pages
Other pages in this set: Form 8949 Boxes A-L, Form 5329 Part III, Form 4562 Line 14, Form 4562 Line 12, Form 4562 Convention Codes, Form 5329 Line 52, Form 4562 Line 42, Form 6251 Line 2i, Form 6251 Line 2c, Form 6251 Line 2l. The 1099-R box 7 lookup and W-2 box 12 lookup cover the same kind of question for those forms.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 4562 (2025): the sections for the lines and boxes on this page. Read November 2, 2026.
IRS page last reviewed April 30, 2026. Tax year 2025 edition. Line numbers, dollar limits and dates are those printed in the 2025 instructions and can change. Names in worked examples are made up.
Frequently asked questions
What are the MACRS property classes on Form 4562?
3-year, 5-year, 7-year, 10-year, 15-year, 20-year and 25-year property, residential rental property (27.5 years) and nonresidential real property (39 years), plus 50-year railroad gradings and tunnel bores.
What class is office furniture?
Seven-year property, according to the instructions. Computers and similar qualified technological equipment are listed as 5-year property.
What if my asset is not listed in the instructions?
Find its class life in Pub. 946 and use the instructions’ table that matches class life ranges to a property class.
Is rental property depreciated over 27.5 years?
Residential rental property, a building with 80% or more of rent from dwelling units, is 27.5-year property using straight line and mid-month.
Where do cars go on Form 4562?
Automobiles and other listed property are reported in Part V, not on lines 19a to 19j.
Not tax advice
This page summarizes IRS instructions, mostly written for the people who prepare the form, and is not tax, legal or financial advice. The payer, a CPA or an enrolled agent can confirm what a box or code means for your return. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.