The new tax law has extended the 50-percent bonus depreciation through 2013. That will mean bigger deductions for buyers of new vehicles purchased new and placed in service this year. The cars, light trucks and vans must be used more than 50 percent for business purposes. The limit is reduced if there is personal use of the vehicle.

The bigger vehicles get better write-off. Pickup trucks with loaded weights over 6,000 pounds can be fully written off if the cargo bed is at least 6 feet long and not accessible from the cab. For a new heavy SUV that costs, say, $65,000, the business can write off $49,000 if it is fully used for business.

Leasing vehicles for business is a little less expensive this year. Deductions for lease payments are reduced by an "inclusion amount"—a little lower this year—that's supposed to approximate the limits on depreciation for owners.

For nearly 30 years, Mike Nickerson has owned and managed a small, full-service accounting practice in the Midcoast. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from University of Southern Main and a master's degree in financial planning from Bentley University.

He is a past board member and president of the Maine Society of Certified Public Accountants and currently serves on the Maine Board of Accountancy.

An aged rock musician, Nickerson now finds musical enjoyment playing upright and electric bass in a variety of bands spanning folk to jazz music genres. He and his wife have three grown children, and they enjoy their free time hiking, kayaking, golfing, bicycling and motorcycling.