Depreciation on a Laptop or Camera for Freelancers

You bought an ₹80,000 laptop in June, and your accountant friend says you can write it off. Then someone else says you cannot, and a third person says you claim it over years. Depreciation on a laptop or camera is the part of ITR-3 most freelancers guess at, usually by deducting the full bill in one year or by skipping it altogether.

Neither works. Under the Income-tax Act 1961, which governs AY 2026-27 returns for FY 2025-26, equipment is claimed as depreciation on a running balance called the written-down value (WDV). This post shows how that balance moves from year to year, with a worked schedule, what changes when you buy late in the year, and why a 44ADA filer claims nothing separately. It does not repeat the basics already in the guide to the home office deduction on ITR-3.

Laptop depreciation works as a block, not a one-off deduction

You do not deduct a laptop's price in the year you buy it. You claim a percentage of the written-down value each year, and the rest carries forward. Computers, including computer software, are reported as depreciating at 40 percent of WDV in Appendix I of the Income-tax Rules, so check the current schedule or ask your CA before you file. All computers sit in one pooled block, so the percentage applies to the combined balance and not to each machine separately.

That pooling has a quiet consequence. Because each year takes 40 percent of what is left, the balance shrinks but never reaches zero. Ask your CA how a sale or scrapped laptop is adjusted against the block.

From FY 2026-27 the Income-tax Act 2025 applies, so the section and rule numbers above will change for later years.

A 3-year worked schedule for a laptop

If you buy an ₹80,000 laptop and use it for the full year, the first year's claim is ₹32,000, the second ₹19,200 and the third ₹11,520. The balance after three years is ₹17,280. This is an illustration for AY 2026-27 using the reported 40 percent rate, not a computation of your actual return.

Now add a second machine. Say the block opens a year with ₹28,800 and you buy a ₹60,000 laptop early enough to use it for more than 180 days. The block becomes ₹88,800, the claim is 40 percent of that, ₹35,520, and ₹53,280 carries forward. You never track the two laptops as separate items. The arithmetic assumes the rate stays at 40 percent, which is worth confirming each year.

The 180-day rule for equipment bought late in the year

If you use the laptop for fewer than 180 days in the year you buy it, the first-year rate is halved, so 20 percent instead of 40. The half you do not claim is not lost. It stays in the block's WDV and is recovered through later years' claims.

Take the same ₹80,000 laptop bought on 20 November 2025 and used for about 132 days until 31 March 2026. The first-year claim is ₹16,000 (20 percent), leaving ₹64,000. The next year's claim is 40 percent of that, ₹25,600, leaving ₹38,400. Compare the full-year laptop above, which would have left ₹48,000 after year one. A laptop first used in March also gets the half-rate claim, so the date you start using it changes the first-year figure. Keep the date you first used the laptop, because the day count depends on it.

Cameras, lenses and other gear: check which block they fall in

A camera is not a computer, so do not assume the 40 percent rate covers it. General plant and machinery is usually reported at 15 percent, but which block a camera, lens, tripod or light belongs to is something to confirm with your CA before you file. A tribunal has held that equipment that needs a computer to run, such as LED walls and projectors, does not get the computer rate and falls under general plant and machinery instead. That ruling does not decide the question for a camera, so it is a reason to ask and not a reason to guess.

Whatever the block, the mechanics match the laptop schedule: a percentage on the block's WDV, a halved first year for equipment used under 180 days, and a balance that carries forward. A photographer or video editor who buys gear every year ends up with several blocks to track. That is a real argument for keeping a proper schedule from day one.

Why 44ADA filers cannot claim it, and what happens if you switch to ITR-3

Under Section 44ADA, your profit is taken as 50 percent of gross receipts, and depreciation is already treated as allowed inside that figure. You cannot claim it as a separate line. The law still reduces your WDV every year as if you had claimed it, so the balance keeps falling even though you never deduct anything. The official page for Section 44ADA carries the text, and the guide on which freelance work is eligible for 44ADA covers who qualifies.

This matters the day you move to ITR-3. If you declare actual income with books, you start from the reduced WDV, not from what you paid for the laptop. A laptop bought in 2023 under 44ADA has already lost two years of notional claims by the time you switch. Under the new tax regime, normal depreciation is still allowed on ITR-3 business income. What Section 115BAC does bar is the additional depreciation under Section 32(1)(iia), which has no practical effect on a laptop. The official page for Section 115BAC has the details.

Personal and business use: claim only the business share

If you use the laptop for both client work and personal browsing, the reasonable reading is that depreciation applies to the business share only. A laptop used 70 percent for work supports a claim on 70 percent of the calculated figure. Pick a share you can defend, such as hours of work use against total use, and use the same share each year. The exact apportionment method is a call for your CA, so confirm it before you rely on a percentage.

What to keep for the depreciation schedule

Keep the purchase invoice, the date you first used the equipment, and a running schedule showing the opening WDV, additions, the claim for the year and the closing WDV. Depreciation is a book-and-schedule exercise, not a bill-by-bill expense, so the schedule is the evidence. Log each purchase the day it happens, and note which block it belongs to. The guide to a freelance expense tracking system covers the habit, and the guide on deductible expenses scattered across accounts helps you gather the other receipts.

What this means for the ITR-3 versus ITR-4 choice

If you buy equipment every year, depreciation is one more reason to compare ITR-3 with the presumptive route, though it will rarely decide the matter on its own. Under 44ADA you give up separate claims but keep a simple filing. Under ITR-3 you keep books and claim actual costs, depreciation included. Work out both with your CA before you commit, because actual expenses, not just depreciation, drive the comparison. The guide on ITR-3 versus ITR-4 sets out the trade-off, and the old versus new tax regime calculator lets you test the regime side of it.

Where to store purchase invoices for the schedule

Keep each purchase invoice next to the expense it belongs to. On plans that include expense tracking, Rinto lets you log an expense with the receipt attached, a category and a project or client tag, so the invoice for each laptop or lens is easy to find when your CA builds the schedule. Rinto does not file returns, give tax advice or calculate depreciation. This post is general information, not tax advice, so confirm rates and treatment with a CA.

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