Question - Columbo Corporation, a calendar-year corporation, began business in 2013. With the initial capital contributions from its sole shareholder, it purchased a building on March 12 for $250,000. It also purchased the following items for use in the business.
Item Purchase Date Acquisition Cost
Office Furniture April 1 $8,000
Computer April 15 $4,000
Machine A May 2 $15,000
Machine B August 4 $21,000
Machine C August 12 $31,000
Columbo did not elect bonus depreciation in 2013 but used MACRS accelerated depreciation on all the assets except Machine B, which it expensed under the Section 179 election.
On January 5, 2011, Columbo sold Machine A for $7,000. It purchased an upgraded Machine D for $45,000 on January 20. On May 5, its computer was completely destroyed by a power surge and was replaced. The new computer equipment cost $6,000. In October, their building was condemned by the city and Columbo had to move. The city paid Columbo $275,000 for the building and it purchased a new building for $310,000 and moved in on October 30. Also in October, the sole shareholder purchased the office furniture for $100 (Fair Market Value = $2,000) and Columbo purchased new furniture for the new building for $15,000. Rather than move Machine B (Fair Market Value = $6,000) it traded it in on new Machine E paying and additional $28,000 cash for the Machine.
a. Determine Columbo Corporation's depreciation expense in years 2008 through 2011 if it did not elect bonus depreciation or Section 179 expensing (except for Machine B).
b. Determine the amount and type of realized and recognized gain or loss on each of the property dispositions in 2016.
c. Determine the net effect of the property transactions on Columbo's taxable income in 2016.