Schedule F Lines 10 to 15: Vehicles, Depreciation, Benefits

Updated November 7, 2026. Quick answer: The first expense group runs from line 10 (car and truck) through line 15 (employee benefit programs). The 2025 business mileage rate is 70 cents a mile, conservation expenses are capped at 25% of farm gross income, line 13 is for machine work someone else did for you, and line 14 carries depreciation and the section 179 election made on Form 4562.

Line 10: car and truck expenses

You pick between two methods. The 2025 figure: “The business standard mileage rate is 70 cents a mile for 2025.” When the mileage rate is not allowed: “You must use actual expenses if you used five or more vehicles simultaneously in your farming business (such as in fleet operations).” With the mileage rate, “Add to this amount your parking fees and tolls, and enter the total on line 10.” Then “Don’t deduct depreciation, rent or lease payments, or your actual operating expenses.”

Either method needs a form: “If you claim any car or truck expenses (actual or the standard mileage rate), you must provide the information requested on Form 4562, Part V.” A personal-use loan interest overlap is addressed too: “You can only deduct the part of the interest expense that represents the business use of your vehicle in the farming activity on Schedule F (Form 1040).” The personal-use side is on Schedule 1-A Part IV.

Line 11: chemicals

The Instructions do not add a separate rule for line 11. Chemicals are an ordinary farm expense, and the Part II rules for personal expenses and prepaid supplies still apply; see the rules before line 10.

Line 12: conservation expenses

Conservation spending has to follow an approved plan: “These expenses can be deducted only if they’re consistent with a conservation plan approved by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture or a recovery plan approved pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 for the area in which your land is located.” With no plan in place, “If no plan exists, the expenses must be consistent with a plan of a comparable state agency.” There is a cap: “Your deduction can’t exceed 25% of your gross income from farming (excluding certain gains from selling assets such as farm machinery and land).” The excess carries forward, and “Don’t deduct expenses you paid or incurred to drain or fill wetlands, or to prepare land for center pivot irrigation systems.”

Line 13: custom hire (machine work)

Line 13: “Enter amounts paid for custom hire or machine work (the machine operator furnished the equipment).” The boundary with rent: “Don’t include amounts paid for rental or lease of equipment you operated yourself. Instead, report those amounts on line 24a.”

Line 14: depreciation and section 179

What qualifies: “You can deduct depreciation of buildings, improvements, cars and trucks, machinery, and other farm equipment of a permanent nature.” What does not: “Don’t deduct depreciation of your home, furniture or other personal items, land, livestock you bought or raised for resale, or other property in your inventory.”

The 2025 section 179 figure: “For tax years beginning in 2025, the maximum section 179 expense deduction is $2,500,000.” It phases down: “This amount is reduced by the amount by which the cost of section 179 property placed in service during the year exceeds $4,000,000.” For orchards: “You can elect to claim a 100% special depreciation allowance for certain specified plants bearing fruits and nuts planted or grafted after January 19, 2025.” The Form 4562 pages are lines 1 to 5 and lines 14 to 20.

Line 15: employee benefit programs

Line 15 is for benefit plans other than a pension. It has a self-employed carve-out: “Contributions you made on your behalf as a self-employed person to an accident and health plan or for group-term life insurance aren’t deductible on Schedule F (Form 1040).” The health-insurance deduction goes elsewhere: “However, you may be able to deduct on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 17, the amount you paid for health insurance on behalf of yourself, your spouse, and your dependent(s) even if you don’t itemize your deductions.” That line is covered on Schedule 1 line 17.

Edition

This page reads Schedule F (Form 1040) for 2025 and the Instructions for Schedule F (Form 1040) (2025), the files irs.gov served on 2026-11-07. Line numbers belong to that edition, so check the label printed on the schedule in your own copy before you follow a line reference.

Common mistakes

• Deducting both the mileage rate and depreciation on the same vehicle. The mileage method replaces depreciation, lease payments and actual operating costs.
• Skipping Form 4562 Part V on a vehicle claim. The Instructions require it for either method.
• Putting machine rental on line 13. Line 13 is for work the operator did with the operator’s equipment; equipment you ran yourself goes on line 24a.
• Deducting your own health insurance on line 15 instead of Schedule 1 line 17.

Related: Schedule F overview, Form 4562 lines 1 to 5, and Schedule C lines 8 and 9.

Sources

• Schedule F (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Farming (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sf.pdf
• Instructions for Schedule F (Form 1040) (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sf.pdf

Read from the IRS documents linked above on November 7, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.