Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation in 2026: Writing Off a Flight Simulator

The phase-down schedule everyone planned around is gone. Here is what the 2026 rules actually allow, which simulators qualify, and the math on a real package.

October 26, 20267 min readSR7x · SFx · DAx

Simulator training earns its place on merit. It costs less than the airplane, it is available in any weather, and it lets you fly the approaches and the failures you would never set up for real. The part most pilots and most flight school owners miss is what the purchase does to their tax bill, because for the 2026 tax year a qualifying simulator can often be deducted in full in the year it is placed in service.

Two provisions do that work: Section 179 and bonus depreciation under Section 168(k). We have written about each of them separately before, and both of those posts are now out of date. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, scrapped the old step-down schedule and reset the numbers. If you are still planning around a 60% or 40% write-off, you are working from the wrong sheet.

Below is the current position for 2026, how a simulator qualifies, and a worked example using a real SR7x package price.

What the 2026 rules say

The inflation-adjusted Section 179 figures for tax years beginning in 2026 come from Revenue Procedure 2025-32. The bonus depreciation rate comes from the amended Section 168(k), with interim IRS guidance issued in Notice 2026-11.

The 100% rate applies to qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. Property acquired under a written binding contract dated before January 20, 2025 still falls under the old phase-down.

That last line is the headline change. Under the previous law, bonus depreciation was stepping down to 20% in 2026 and to nothing in 2027, which is why the advice for years was to buy before the window closed. That deadline no longer exists. What does still exist is an annual one: the deduction belongs to the tax year in which the equipment is placed in service, so a device that goes live on January 3 helps your 2027 return, not this one.

Section 179 or bonus depreciation, and why you might use both

They do a similar job by different mechanics, and for most single-simulator purchases either one gets you to a full first-year deduction. The differences matter at the edges.

Section 179

• →Elective, asset by asset. You choose how much to expense.
• →Capped at $2,560,000 and limited by your active business taxable income.
• →It cannot create or deepen a loss. Anything disallowed carries forward.

Bonus depreciation

• →Automatic for qualified property unless you elect out, and it applies by asset class.
• →No dollar cap and no taxable income limit, so it can produce a loss.
• →Less selective. Electing out covers the whole class, not one device.

A common approach is to apply Section 179 first, reduce the asset basis by that amount, then run 100% bonus depreciation on whatever basis remains. For a flight school adding several devices and a classroom refit in one year, that combination is where the planning actually happens, and it is a conversation for your CPA rather than a rule of thumb.

Does a flight simulator qualify?

Tax guidance usually illustrates these provisions with manufacturing equipment and trucks, so it is worth setting out why training devices sit in the same category. Three tests do most of the work.

1. Recovery period of 20 years or less

Qualified property is tangible personal property with a class life of 20 years or less. A simulator, which is hardware, panels, controls and software, sits well inside that. This test is rarely the obstacle.

2. Predominantly business use

The device has to be used more than half the time for business. That is straightforward for flight schools, university programs, training centers and Part 135 operators. It also reaches owner-pilots: if you fly your own aircraft for the business, whether that means reaching clients, moving between sites or carrying crew and equipment, then the proficiency training that keeps you current and insurable is part of operating that aircraft. The IRS has long accepted training and proficiency tools as deductible where they are ordinary and necessary to the business.

3. Acquired and placed in service in the right window

For the permanent 100% rate, the property has to be both acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. For the deduction to land on your 2026 return, it has to be placed in service on or before December 31, 2026.

On the equipment itself, REALSIMGEAR® builds aircraft-specific devices rather than generic controls, and several of our systems are FAA Approved AATDs. That matters here for two reasons. It supports the case that the purchase is professional training equipment tied to business operations, and it means the hours are loggable toward real currency and ratings rather than being practice alone. We have looked at the revenue side of that argument in Flight School Economics: Measuring the Value of AATD Simulators in Training Programs.

Worked example: an SR7x Pro Package

Say your business buys an SR7x Pro Package at $62,795 and has it running before December 31, 2026. You expense the full amount in year one, at a 32% federal rate, in a state with a 5% income tax that conforms to the federal treatment.

Illustration only. Price current at time of writing; rates and state treatment will differ for your business.

Before December 31

• →Ask your CPA which route fits: Section 179, bonus depreciation, or both, against this year's income.
• →Check your state's conformity. The federal answer is not always the whole answer.
• →Document the business use from day one: who trains on it, how often, and against what requirement.
• →Keep the invoice, the delivery date and the date the device first became available for use.
• →Order with enough runway that it is installed and running, not in transit, on December 31.

With the phase-down gone, the argument for buying has shifted from beating a deadline to a simpler one. The training case stands on its own, and the tax treatment decides which year it lands in. If the device is going to earn its keep in your program, the question worth asking your accountant is whether this year or next is the better year to place it in service.

*This article is general information, not tax advice. REALSIMGEAR is not an accounting firm. Tax limits, rates and state conformity change, and the right treatment depends on your entity, your income and how the device is used. Please confirm everything here with your own CPA or tax advisor before you rely on it. Figures cited reflect IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and Notice 2026-11 as published at the time of writing. Simulator fidelity is high but not absolute, and slight differences may exist between the simulated panel and the hardware in the aircraft.

Thinking about placing one in service this year?

Tell us what you fly and what you train, and we will tell you what the device does, what it costs and how long it takes to get running.

*General information only. Consult your own tax advisor.
© 2026 REALSIMGEAR. The Standard in Flight Simulation Training.