For the past month I’ve been toying with the idea of availing myself of the new car discounts that have been so heavily advertised that you couldn’t avoid hearing about them. Not only are cars cheap(er), the cost of operation is a lot less now that fuel costs have dropped more than 50% from their highs. I would be doing my civic duty by stimulating the economy.
And of course there was a tax angle: if a new car was bought by year-end and used entirely in my business, I could get a 2008 depreciation deduction of nearly $11,000 (this amount is proportionately lower if business use is between 50% and 100%). But this purchase would come with a big rope attached: I would have to maintain careful driving records for at least the next five years and keep my personal mileage below 50%.
I reluctantly concluded that we don’t really “need” a new car, since our family has four functioning vehicles. If in 2009 I hope to reduce the material clutter and time-draining obligations from the calendar, buying a new car is a step in the wrong direction. The checks to the Department of Treasury and the Franchise Tax Board will be thousands of dollars larger on April 15th, but I won’t look back.
My New Year’s Eve was filled with anxiety and frustration, but in the end there was clarity. So it was a Happy New Year after all. © 2009 Stephen Yuen
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