During the current year, Hitchcock Developers disposed of plant assets in the following transactions.

Feb. 10 Office equipment costing $24,000 was given to a scrap dealer at no charge. At the date of disposal, accumulated depreciation on the office equipment amounted to $21,800. Apr. 1 Hitchcock sold land and a building to Claypool Associates for $900,000, receiving $100,000 cash and a 5-year, 9 percent note receivable for the remaining balance. Hitchcocks records showed the following amounts: Land, $50,000; Building, $550,000; Accumulated Depreciation: Building (at the date of disposal), $260,000.

Aug. 15 Hitchcock traded in an old truck for a new one. The old truck had cost $26,000, and its accumulated depreciation amounted to $18,000. The list price of the new truck was $39,000, but Hitchcock received a $10,000 trade-in allowance for the old truck and paid $28,000 in cash. Hitchcock includes trucks in its Vehicles account.

Oct. 1 Hitchcock traded in its old computer system as part of the purchase of a new system. The old system had cost $15,000, and its accumulated depreciation amounted to $11,000. The new computers list price was $8,000. Hitchcock accepted a trade-in allowance of $500 for the old computer system, paying $1,500 down in cash and issuing a 1-year, 8 percent note payable for the $6,000 balance owed.

Required: a. Prepare journal entries to record each of the disposal transactions. Assume that depreciation expense on each asset has been recorded up to the date of disposal. Thus, you need not update the accumulated depreciation figures stated in the problem.

b. Do gains and losses on asset disposals affect gross profit?