Straight-line Depreciation Definition: A depreciation formula which writes off the cost of an asset at a fixed percentage rate every year of an asset's useful life. Related Terms: Depreciation "[D]epreciation can be viewed as an accounting technique that determines an annual amount of money to deduct from gross income that can be used to accumulate replacement costs of an asset before it needs to be replaced. The figure represents a decline in an asset's value because of use, wear, or obsolescence. "Straight-line depreciation writes off the cost of an asset at a fixed percentage rate every year of an asset's useful life. An accelerated depreciation method employs a greater percentage deduction in the earlier years of an asset's useful life and smaller deductions in the latter years." These helpful words were written by Justice Hill of the Court of Appeals of Kansas in Re Marriage of Wiese. REFERENCES: In re Marriage of Wiese, 203 P. 3d 59 (2009) Categories & Topics: Tax Law Dictionary Find you are constantly looking up definitions? Try our search provider (works in most modern browsers) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Legal Dictionary, or if you have legal term suggestion, we'd love to hear from you!