[basisschedule]

I'm thinking 7 years due to no other available class life. Correct, or no?

[Anderly]

Is it possibly Asset Class 57 with a 5 year GDS life?

[HowardS]

class 00.21, aircraft & helicopters? 5 yr.

[basisschedule]

Anderly, good suggestion. I definitely think it would fit there.

Also a good call, HowardS. I found this non-authoritative article from 2016 that concurs.

"The IRS has not yet made a determination of the asset class for drones; however, they likely will be in the same class life as airplanes and helicopters which means they will be depreciated over five years." https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... e.amp.html

[ManVsTax]

De minimus safe harbor...how expensive are these damn things??

[Coddington]

00.21 is airplanes and helicopters, not aircraft.

00.21 Airplanes (airframes and engines), except those used in commercial or contract carrying of passengers or freight, and all helicopters (airframes and engines) 6 5 6

If this is the personal service of photography or the professional service of surveying (or the like), I would say class 57.0, just like Anderly said. After all, if it doesn't fit in one of the asset-based classes, it would go in the activity class of the business in which it is used.

[basisschedule]

De minimus safe harbor...how expensive are these damn things??

In this guy's business, they are $1000 to $3000. Lenses also run about $1000. This guy does real estate videos and marketing videos for local businesses, municipalities, and colleges.

There are other applications that are much more expensive - lidar, mapping, sonar, archeology/paleontology, even heat sensors for search and rescue.

[dave829]

I agree with Anderly and Coddington. Asset class 57.0 includes assets used in personal and professional services and classifies them as 5-year recovery property. Rev. Proc. 77-10 lists photographic studios as a business that offers personal services. So, based on this, I would classify the camera drone as 5-year recovery property.