Problem - Capital Expenditures, Depreciation, and Disposal
Merton Company purchased a building on January 1, 2007, at a cost of $ 364,000. Merton esti-mated that the building's life would be 25 years and the residual value at the end of 25 years would be $ 14,000. On January 1, 2008, the company made several expenditures related to the building. The entire building was painted and floors were refinished at a cost of $ 21,000. A federal agency required Merton to install additional pollution control devices in the building at a cost of $ 42,000. With the new devices, Merton believed it was possible to extend the life of the building by an additional six years.
In 2009, Merton altered its corporate strategy dramatically. The company sold the building on April 1, 2009, for $ 392,000 in cash and relocated all operations to another state.
Explain why the cost of the pollution control equipment was not expensed in 2008. What conditions would have allowed Merton to expense the equipment? If Merton has a choice, would it prefer to expense or capitalize the equipment?