Plant Company is contemplating the purchase of a new piece of equipment for $$42,000.$ Plant is in the $40\%$ income tax bracket. Predicted annual after$-$tax cash inflows from this investment are $$28,000,$$$11,000,$$$3,000,$$$5,000$ and $$2,000$ for years $1$ through $5,$ respectively. The firm uses straight$-$line depreciation with no residual value at the end of five years.

Assume that the hurdle rate for accepting new capital investment projects for the company is $4\%,$ after$-$tax. $($Note: PV $$1$ factors for $4\%$ are as follows: for year $1=0\mathrm{.}962,$ for year $2=0\mathrm{.}925,$ for year $3=0\mathrm{.}889,$ for year $4=0\mathrm{.}855,$ for year $5=0\mathrm{.}822$; the $PV$ annuity factor for $4\%,5$ years $=4\mathrm{.}452.)$ At an after$-$tax discount rate of $4\%,$ the estimated net present value $($NPV$)$ of the proposed investment is $($rounded to the nearest hundred dollars$)$: