This has it backwards. Amortization arises from the decline in value of capital goods through their usage. Say you buy a delivery truck for 100k and after a y

This has it backwards. Amortization arises from the decline in value of capital goods through their usage. Say you buy a delivery truck for 100k and after a year of deliveries net a cash profit of 80k. You didn't actually make 80k because your 100k truck is worth less after 1 year of wear. So the question is how much? You'd like to say it's worth 80k less so your net profit is 0 and you don't pay taxes. The tax man wants it to be 0 or at least accurate so you pay the taxes you owe. To forestall this sort of back and forth the government has set standardized amortization schedules. It says that first year trucks decline 35% in value, second year an additional 25% and so on until it's 0. So that's why we have standard amortization schedules. The policy implications come into play when you set those schedules. If you want businesses to buy more trucks you allow them to amortize them faster so that they are cheaper when accounting for tax implications. If you don't want them to buy more trucks you slow it down so that businesses pay more taxes sooner which makes them more expensive. If oil companies are getting a faster than warranted amortization schedule then it is a tax subsidy.