I was looking at the SARS allowable depreciation schedule and I see there is one important change worth noting when it comes to the small item allowance. This will no doubt affect small item rental operations like DVD rental stores (DVD's are specifically mentioned )

In the past items purchased to lease and under the small item threshold could be expensed immediately. This no longer applies to items purchased after November 2009. They will have to be capitalised and depreciated over their expected reasonable life-time.

Anyone who has ever looked at the allowable depreciation rates provided by SARS will realise that for some items, at times the "reasonable" period doesn't seem that reasonable at all.

My personal favourite is power tools (hand operated) at 5 years. Try getting 5 years out of an angle grinder if it's used regularly