Immobilisations Incorporelles : Comptabilisation et Fiscalité
Comprendre les règles comptables et les incidences fiscales qui régissent le cycle de vie des immobilisations incorporelles.
Intangible assets are a significant, non-physical component of a company’s value. To be recognized on financial statements, an asset must be identifiable, the company must have control over it, and it must be expected to provide future economic benefits. While you cannot touch them, items like patents, copyrights, customer lists, and brand recognition are drivers of revenue. Including them on the balance sheet gives a more complete picture of a company’s resources.
Identification and Initial Valuation
The initial valuation depends on how the asset was obtained. For a purchased intangible asset, its value is its cost. This includes the acquisition price, legal fees, and other direct costs to prepare the asset for use. For example, the cost of a purchased patent includes the price paid plus legal fees for the ownership transfer.
When an asset is developed internally, accounting rules are more restrictive. Costs from the research phase are expensed as they are incurred. However, certain development costs can be capitalized once specific criteria are met, such as reaching technological feasibility. This distinction prevents capitalizing uncertain early-stage expenses while allowing recognition of assets likely to generate value.
Accounting Treatment During Holding Period
Once recorded, the value of an intangible asset is managed throughout its life. For assets with a finite useful life, this is done through amortization, the process of allocating the asset’s cost over the period it is expected to contribute to revenue. This aligns the expense with the economic benefits it helps generate.
The most common method for this allocation is the straight-line method, which spreads the cost evenly over the asset’s useful life. For instance, if a company purchases a customer list for $100,000 and estimates its useful life to be five years, the annual amortization expense would be $20,000 ($100,000 / 5 years). This expense is recorded each year, reducing the asset’s carrying value on the balance sheet.
Some assets, like goodwill or certain trademarks, have an indefinite useful life and are not amortized. Instead, these assets are tested for impairment at least annually. An impairment test determines if an asset’s fair value has dropped below its carrying amount. If impaired, the company writes down its value and recognizes an impairment loss. Finite-lived assets are also tested for impairment if events suggest their value may not be recoverable.
Accounting for Disposal or Removal
When a company disposes of an intangible asset, it must be removed from the financial statements. First, the asset’s net book value (or carrying value) is calculated at the time of disposal. This value is the original cost minus all accumulated amortization.
Next, journal entries remove the asset from the books. This requires crediting the intangible asset account for its original cost and debiting the accumulated amortization account for its total. These entries wipe the asset off the balance sheet.
Finally, a gain or loss on the disposal is calculated and recorded. This is the difference between the sale proceeds and the asset’s net book value. A gain is recorded if proceeds are greater, and a loss is recorded if they are less, with the result recognized on the income statement.
Tax Implications
The tax treatment of intangible assets differs from financial accounting rules. For tax purposes, Section 197 of the Internal Revenue Code governs many acquired intangible assets. It mandates that assets like goodwill, patents, and copyrights acquired in a business purchase must be amortized over a 15-year period.
This standardized 15-year life applies for tax purposes regardless of the asset’s useful life for accounting, using the straight-line method. This difference requires companies to maintain separate records, as an asset might be amortized over five years for financial reports but over 15 years for tax returns.
Upon the sale of such an intangible, the tax consequences depend on the gain or loss. A gain on an asset held for more than one year may be taxed at lower long-term capital gains rates. Recognizing a tax loss is more restrictive; a loss is generally not deductible if the company retains other intangibles from the same transaction. Instead, the basis of the remaining intangibles is increased by the disallowed loss.