Is capital expenditures line 13 or form 4562?

Line 13 is just the total: every asset, its cost, its date in service and its method belong on Form 4562, which is what makes the line 13 figure provable.

Is capital expenditures line 13 or line 22?

A short-lived or low-cost item is supplies on line 22 under the de minimis safe harbour election, so it never enters the asset list at all.

Where does capex go on Schedule C? Line 13

Short answer Schedule C, Line 13 Depreciation and section 179 expense deduction

Capital expenditures belongs on Line 13, depreciation and section 179 expense deduction.

Why line 13

Schedule C has no capital expenditure line, because a capital purchase is not deducted as a cost of this year: it is added to your depreciable assets and recovered on line 13, depreciation and section 179 expense deduction. The number on line 13 is computed on Form 4562 and carried across, so the form is where the asset list, the method and any section 179 or bonus election actually live. A purchase is capital if it is tangible property you will use beyond this tax year; if it is consumed inside the year, it is an ordinary expense on the line that matches what it is.

Stop looking up lines one at a time. ClaryBook totals your year into an IRS Schedule C worksheet in form order, Part I and Part II line by line, so capital expenditures lands on Line 13 without you sorting it.

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What capital expenditures is confused with

Form 4562, form 4562, carried to schedule c line 13: Line 13 is just the total: every asset, its cost, its date in service and its method belong on Form 4562, which is what makes the line 13 figure provable.
Line 22, supplies: A short-lived or low-cost item is supplies on line 22 under the de minimis safe harbour election, so it never enters the asset list at all.
Line 21, repairs and maintenance: Spending that keeps an existing asset in working order is repairs on line 21, while spending that betters, restores or adapts it is capital.

Examples that belong on line 13

A 3,000 dollar camera body placed in service in June
A 12,000 dollar CNC router for a cabinet shop
A 1,400 dollar desk and monitor arm setup for a dedicated office
An 8,500 dollar trailer bought to haul equipment to jobs
A 2,200 dollar commercial refrigerator for a bakery

What does not belong here

Land, which is never depreciated
Inventory bought for resale, which is Part III cost of goods sold
Monthly subscriptions and consumables, which are current expenses
The full purchase price of an asset you also use personally, since only the business use share is recoverable

The limit that applies

Section 179 and bonus depreciation are elections made on Form 4562, not separate Schedule C lines; both have dollar and phase-out figures that are set annually and indexed, so check the current year's Form 4562 instructions rather than relying on a remembered number.

What to keep

Keep the invoice, the date the asset was placed in service and proof of payment for every capitalised item, and carry the asset list forward year to year. Form 4562 and your depreciation schedule are the running record that makes line 13 reconstructable.

Other expenses on line 13

Expense	Line
a business sign	Schedule C, Line 13
a camera and lenses	Schedule C, Line 13
a desk and office chair	Schedule C, Line 13
a laptop or computer	Schedule C, Line 13
a laptop used 70 percent for work	Schedule C, Line 13
a phone handset	Schedule C, Line 13
a trailer	Schedule C, Line 13
commercial kitchen equipment	Schedule C, Line 13
software bought outright	Schedule C, Line 13
tools over a few hundred dollars	Schedule C, Line 13

Related lookups

Sources

This page explains how Schedule C lines work. It is general information, not tax advice for your situation. If an expense is large or the answer turns on a fact about your business, confirm it with your tax preparer.

Looking for a different expense? The full Schedule C line lookup has every line from 8 to 27 with the expenses that belong on each, and Schedule C expense categories walks the whole form in order.

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