Module 222 min2206 wordsFree — no account
Leasing, leased-out businesses and intangible assets: patents, trademarks, concessions and goodwill
The module’s worked examples, then cases to attempt before revealing their solution · 7 sections · 649 words · 8 min
Worked example
A three-year contract for an eight-year asset
A company leases a machine whose assumed rate, chosen for illustration, corresponds to eight years of depreciation. The minimum deduction period for the payments is half that: four years. The contract lasts three years, so the deduction is spread over four, and part of the payments slides into the fourth year.
Worked example
A workshop taken on lease
A craftsman leases a fellow craftsman's business. Among the assets is a plant that cost 40,000 euros, on which the owner has deducted 16,000 euros and kept a proper register. The tenant depreciates on the original cost of 40,000 euros, using the rates for its own sector, up to a total of 24,000 euros of charges.
Worked example
A patent bought in July
An SRL buys a patent for 30,000 euros in July 2026 and its accounts write it off over five years, at 6,000 euros a year. The 50% tax limit would allow up to 15,000 euros a year, but the deduction cannot exceed what the accounts book: the company deducts 6,000 euros a year, with no adjustment.
Worked example
A trademark written off more slowly than tax allows
A company recognises a trademark it bought for 40,000 euros and chooses a twenty-year accounting plan, booking 2,000 euros a year. Tax law would accept up to one eighteenth, about 2,222 euros, but the deduction stays tied to what the profit and loss account records: 2,000 euros a year, with nothing to claw back in the return.
Worked example
A twelve-year beach concession
A beach resort pays 60,000 euros to take over a state concession with twelve years left to run. The cost follows neither the ministerial table nor the trademark limit: it is deducted in line with the concession's remaining term, that is 60,000 / 12 = 5,000 euros for each year of use.
Practical case
Goodwill at Giulia's agency
In 2026 Giulia's SRL buys a travel agency and recognises goodwill of 90,000 euros, written off in the accounts over ten years in equal charges starting in 2026. It also buys a trademark for 36,000 euros, written off in the accounts over eighteen years. The company reports under Italian accounting standards. What upward adjustment is needed for 2026, and how much IRES does it cost at the standard rate?
Hint: For each asset, compare the accounting charge with the eighteenth that tax law allows; only the excess is added back.
Show the solution
Goodwill: accounting charge 90,000 / 10 = 9,000 euros; tax limit 90,000 / 18 = 5,000 euros; excess of 4,000 euros added back. Trademark: accounting charge 36,000 / 18 = 2,000 euros, equal to the tax limit, so no adjustment. Total add-back 4,000 euros; IRES 4,000 × 24% = 960 euros, which the company will recover in the closing years of the tax schedule.
Answer: 4,000 euros added back, 960 euros of IRES
Practical case
A warehouse and a lathe on finance lease
In 2026 a business signs two finance leases. The first covers a warehouse, lasts eight years and carries total payments of 480,000 euros. The second covers a lathe whose assumed rate corresponds to ten years of depreciation; it lasts four years, with total payments of 100,000 euros. For simplicity, ignore implicit interest and the purchase option and spread the payments evenly over the tax period. How much is deducted each year for each asset?
Hint: For each contract, first fix the minimum deduction period, compare it with the contract term and take the longer of the two.
Show the solution
Warehouse: real estate, tax minimum of twelve years, longer than the eight-year contract; yearly deduction 480,000 / 12 = 40,000 euros, against 60,000 euros of payments accruing in each of the first eight years. Lathe: minimum of half of ten years, i.e. five years, longer than the four-year contract; yearly deduction 100,000 / 5 = 20,000 euros, against 25,000 euros of yearly payments.
Answer: 40,000 euros a year for 12 years and 20,000 euros a year for 5 years
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