Why do businesses write off equipment?

Businesses write off equipment in an attempt to match the cost of the equipment against the income such equipment helps to generate.

Doing so gives the business it's best calculation of it's profitability. Without this attempt to match expense against income distortion of financial performance usually results, which leads to making erroneous decisions in management of the business.

In laymans terms: Writing off equipment keeps your hands out of your own money pocket. If you can get someone else to pay for it, do it, because eventually it will come out of the companys pocket. That's not good for business, profit or growth, and that's what makes the big American wheel go round and round......