On January 1, 2020, a company purchased a commercial truck for $48,000 and uses the straight-line depreciation method. The truck has a useful life of eight years and an estimated residual value of $8,000. On December 31, 2022, the company sold the truck for $30,000. What amount of gain or loss should the company record on December 31, 2022?

a loss of $3,000

Explanation:

A company makes a gain on the disposal of an asset when the amount received from the disposal is higher than the net book value or carrying amount of the asset.

The netbook value of the asset is the difference between the cost and the accumulated depreciation of the asset. The accumulated depreciation is the total depreciation over the used life of the asset and the depreciation is the result of the cost less residual value divided by the estimated asset life.

In light of the above,

Annual depreciation = ($48,000 - $8,000) / 8

= $5,000

Between January 1 2020 and December 31 2022 is 3 years,

Accumulated depreciation at December 31, 2022

= 3 * $5,000

= $15,000

NBV at December 31, 2022

= $48,000 - $15,000

= $33,000

Gain / (loss) on disposal = $30,000 - $33,000

= ($3,000)

The company would record a loss of $3,000