In the fall of 2018, the government announced a series of measures to help industry and in particular the return of the excess depreciation system for SMEs.
The principle of the device
It allows SMEs to deduct 40% of the value of the investment from taxable profit, with a spread over the depreciation period of the asset.
Concretely, this makes it possible to depreciate eligible fixed assets at 140% and thus benefit from a tax saving of up to more than 13% for companies subject to corporate tax at the normal rate.
This system concerns all SMEs and VSEs in the European sense of the term, having an industrial activity (and not commercial / agricultural). That is to say, companies in the industrial sector with less than 250 employees, whose annual turnover does not exceed 50 million euros (or the balance sheet total does not exceed 43 million euros) .
The company must be subject to corporation tax or income tax according to a real regime. Companies benefiting from the micro regime are therefore excluded from this measure.
Beyond the eligibility criteria for SMEs and investments, a few conditions must still be met:
- The good must be acquired in new condition between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 (if it has been the subject of a firm order from September 20, 2018).
- A good ordered between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 can also benefit from this excess depreciation if a deposit of 10% is paid and if the acquisition occurs within 24 months from the date of order.
- Finally, goods leased or rented with an option to purchase also allow the application of excess depreciation if the contract was concluded between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020.
