Show HN: Free depreciation calculator (no login, no back end, 3KB gzipped)

1 points by ludydev 3 hours ago

Author here.

I built MyDepreciation after getting frustrated with TurboTax paywalling basic MACRS calculations ($80 for the "Self-Employed" tier).

*Technical details:*

• Vanilla JS, no frameworks (wanted to keep it lightweight) • 100% client-side (no backend, no analytics, no data collection) • MACRS tables hardcoded from IRS Publication 946 (public domain) • Total bundle size: 3KB gzipped • Hosted on Cloudflare Pages (free tier)

*Why no framework?* The entire app is just form inputs + table lookups + arithmetic. Adding React/Vue would 10x the bundle size for zero benefit.

*Privacy-first design:* Your financial data never leaves your browser. No cookies, no tracking, no "sign up to save calculations." Just pure math.

*Why free?* The MACRS tables are published by the IRS for free. Paywalling them felt like gatekeeping public information. Plus, hosting costs $0 (static site), so there's no pressure to monetize.

*Open to feedback, especially:* • Bugs in calculations (I'm not a CPA—if you spot errors, please flag) • UX improvements (I'm an engineer, not a designer) • Edge cases I missed (depreciation has a LOT of gotchas)

GitHub: [leave this blank unless you've open-sourced it]

Happy to answer questions!