Section 1: General provisions (R)

In application of the provisions of article L. 2321-3, the depreciation of the following fixed assets, including those made available or allocated, constitutes compulsory expenditure for communes and groups of communes with a population of 3,500 or more:

1° Movable assets other than collections and works of art;

2° Income-producing immovable assets, including assets leased or made available to a private third party against payment of a right of use, and not assigned directly or indirectly to public use or to an administrative public service;

3° Intangible assets other than study and insertion costs followed by completion.

Depreciation does not apply to fixed assets owned by the municipality that are assigned, conceded, leased or made available, nor to land and land improvements except for deposit land.

Depreciation allowances for these assets are liquidated on the basis of the historical cost of the fixed asset and the straight-line method. However, a municipality may, by deliberation, adopt a degressive or variable, or real, depreciation method.

The depreciation periods for fixed assets are set for each asset or category of assets by the deliberative assembly, which may refer to a scale set by order of the minister responsible for local authorities and the minister responsible for the budget, with the exception, however:

- of costs relating to town planning documents mentioned in article L. 132-15 which are amortised over a maximum period of ten years;

- study costs and insertion costs not followed by completion which are amortised over a maximum period of five years;

- research and development costs which are amortised over a maximum period of five years;

- patents which are amortised over the duration of the privilege from which they benefit or over their actual period of use if this is shorter ;

- capital grants paid, which are depreciated over a maximum period of five years when the grant finances movable property, equipment or studies, thirty years when the grant finances real estate or installations, and forty years when the grant finances infrastructure projects of national interest; investment aid to companies not falling into any of these categories is depreciated over a maximum period of five years.

Municipalities and their public establishments may neutralise the budgetary impact of the depreciation of equipment grants paid, by recording an expense in the investment section and a revenue in the operating section.

The deliberation relating to the depreciation period is sent to the accounting officer.

A depreciation plan that has been started must be continued until its end, unless the asset is sold, assigned, made available, reformed or destroyed. The depreciation schedule may only be modified in the event of a significant change in the conditions of use of the asset. The municipality or grouping to which the asset is made available or allocated continues to depreciate the asset according to the initial depreciation schedule or in accordance with its own rules, as defined by this article.

A deliberative assembly may set a unit threshold below which fixed assets of little value or which are consumed very quickly are depreciated over one year. The corresponding resolution is forwarded to the municipal tax collector and may not be modified during the same financial year.