Tax exemption

Résumé des conditions de défiscalisation pour achat d'œuvres d'art

WHAT TYPES OF WORKS? :

Uniquement les œuvres d’arts originales d’artistes vivant au jour d’acquisition. (Peintures, sculptures, céramiques, etc. voir détail plus bas)

FOR WHO ? : For all companies subject to I.S. 

HOW MUCH ? :

€20,000/year from 12/31/2020 or 0.5% of the company's turnover excluding VAT (see detailed terms below)

WHAT CONDITION? :

 Exhibit the work for five years in a place accessible to the public (company premises or other …. see details below)

BUT NO WORRIES WE TAKE CARE OF ALL THE FORMALISM

Tax deduction for the purchase of works of art

A company that buys original works by living artists to exhibit them to the public can deduct the purchase price from its taxable income. However, these works must meet certain conditions.

Which companies are affected?

  • Company subject to corporation tax (automatically or optionally)
  • Sole proprietorship subject to income tax in the BIC category

Warning  

The deduction system requires the ability to enter the deductible acquisition price in a special reserve account on the liabilities side of the company's balance sheet. This mainly excludes the liberal professions, which do not have the option of creating an account of this nature on the liabilities side of their balance sheet.

What works qualify for deduction?

Original work by a living artist                                                   

To benefit from the deduction, the company must exhibit the work of art in a place accessible free of charge to the public or to employees, except in their offices, for 5 years. This period corresponds to the year of acquisition and the following 4 years.

The affected works are:

  • Paintings, painting, drawing, watercolour, gouache, pastel, monotype, entirely executed by the hand of the artist
  • Engraving, print and lithograph, printed in a limited number directly from plates executed entirely by hand by the artist. The technique or the material used does not matter, with the exception of any mechanical or photomechanical process
  • Production in all materials of statuary art or sculpture and assembly, when this production and assembly are carried out entirely by the hand of the artist. Items of jewelry, goldsmithery and jewelry are excluded.
  • Fonte de sculpture à tirage limité à 8 exemplaires et contrôlé par l’artiste ou ses ayant-droit
  • Handmade tapestry, based on original boxes provided by the artist, limited to 8 copies
  • Unique copy of ceramic, entirely executed by the hand of the artist and signed by him
  • Email sur cuivre, entièrement exécuté à la main, dans la limite de 8 exemplaires numérotés et comportant la signature de l’artiste. Les articles de bijouterie, d’orfèvrerie et de joaillerie sont exclus.
  • Photograph taken by the artist, printed by him or under his control, signed and numbered within the limit of 30 copies, all formats and media combined.

Works purchased with a view to resale are part of the stocks of the company (dealers, art galleries, or any company involved in the transactions of works of art) and do not give rise to the right to the deduction.

To know  

Artisanal or serial productions do not constitute original works.

The artist must be alive at the time of purchase of the work. The company must be able to justify the existence of the artist on the date of acquisition.

The exhibition of the work can be carried out in the following places and situations:

  • Company premises, provided that they are actually accessible to the public or to employees
  • Events organized by the company or by a museum, a local authority or a public establishment to which the property has been entrusted
  • Museum to which the property is deposited
  • Region, department, municipality or one of their public establishments or a public establishment of a scientific, cultural or professional nature

The exhibition must be permanent (for the required 5 years), and not carried out during one-off events (temporary exhibition, seasonal festival, in particular).

Whatever the conditions of exposure to the public adopted by the company, the public must be informed of the place of exposure and its possibility of access to the property. The company must therefore communicate the appropriate information to the public. It must do so by attractive indications on the very place of the exhibition and by all promotional means adapted to the importance of the work.

Warning  

The business premises in which the work is exhibited cannot be a personal office, a personal residence or a place reserved solely for the company's customers, for example. The exhibition in these premises does not allow access to the tax deduction.

C. Limitation of deduction

Les sommes relatives aux acquisitions d’œuvres originales d’artistes vivants ou d’instruments de musique sont déductibles dans la limite de 20 000 € ou de 5 ‰ du chiffre d’affaires lorsque ce dernier montant est plus élevé, diminuée des versements effectués en application de l’article 238 bis of the CGI. When the fraction of the acquisition price cannot be fully deducted for a year, the unused excess cannot be carried forward to be deducted for a subsequent year.

Remark : The ceiling of €20,000, alternative to that of 5‰ of turnover, applies to payments made during financial years ending on or after December 31, 2020, in accordance with theArticle 134 of Law No. 2019-1479 of December 28, 2019 on finance for 2020.

Exemple :

L’entreprise A a réalisé au cours de l’exercice N un chiffre d’affaires de 1 M€. Par ailleurs, elle a effectué au cours du même exercice des dons aux œuvres pour un montant de 8 000 € et a acquis une œuvre d’artiste vivant pour un montant de 40 000 €. La fraction du prix d’acquisition de l’œuvre est déductible au titre de l’année N dans la limite de 8 000 € (40 000 € / 5).

Au titre de l’année N, la limite globale de prise en compte des versements calculée en fonction du chiffre d’affaires de l’entreprise A est de : 1 M€ x 5 ‰ = 5 000 €. Les versements effectués par l’entreprise A sont donc bien pris en compte dans la limite de 20 000 €, supérieure au plafond de 5 ‰ du chiffre d’affaires.

Les versements effectués au titre de l’article 238 bis du CGI étant de 8 000 €, la limite applicable aux sommes déductibles au titre de l’article 238 bis AB of the CGI is €12,000 (€20,000 – €8,000). Company A will therefore be able to deduct the fraction of the acquisition price of the work in full for year N, i.e. the sum of €8,000 (€40,000 / 5).

During year N+1, company A achieved a turnover of €1.5 million. During the same financial year, it made donations to charities for an amount of €16,000.

Au titre de l’année N+1, la limite globale de prise en compte des versements calculée en fonction du chiffre d’affaires de l’entreprise A est de : 1,5 M€ x 5 ‰ = 7 500 €. Les versements effectués par l’entreprise A sont donc bien pris en compte dans la limite de 20 000 €, supérieure au plafond de 5 ‰ du chiffre d’affaires.

Les versements effectués au titre de l’article 238 bis du CGI étant de 16 000 €, l’entreprise A ne peut déduire au titre de l’article 238 bis AB du CGI que 4 000 € (20 000 € – 16 000 €). Le montant n’ayant pas pu être déduit au cours de l’exercice N+1 (8 000 € – 4 000 €, soit 4 000 €) ne peut être reporté. Il est définitivement perdu.

Vous pouvez retrouver les textes sur le site : www.impots.gouv.fr