Partial depreciation
The partial value depreciation is a term from tax law and describes an extraordinary depreciation on an asset to the lower partial value on the balance sheet date . A similar depreciation is provided in the Commercial Code, which is referred to as unscheduled depreciation , Section 253 (3) sentence 5 HGB .
Concept of partial value
There is a legal definition for the term partial value in the Income Tax Act :
“Partial value is the amount that an acquirer of the entire business would apply as part of the total purchase price for the individual asset; it is to be assumed that the purchaser will continue the business. "( § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 Satz 3 EStG)
In terms of its conception, it is therefore a use value in the context of the entire economic asset. The business economist Alfred Luhmer sees the partial value as Shapley value . However, this theoretical concept of value is practically largely useless: The partial value definition would make an assessment of the entire establishment necessary every time there are indications of an impairment ; In a second step, the proportional value of the relevant asset would then have to be determined. This is not practical.
Therefore, the case law has developed partial value presumptions:
- At the time of acquisition or production of an asset , the acquisition or production costs are considered to be the partial value.
- For the subsequent valuation, the acquisition or production costs reduced by linear depreciation apply as the partial value for depreciable assets .
- In the case of non-depreciable fixed assets, the acquisition or production costs apply as a partial value even after initial recognition.
- In the case of current assets , the replacement costs apply as a partial value. In the case of assets intended for sale, the partial value also depends on the anticipated sales proceeds (stock exchange or market price).
- The replacement costs form the upper limit of the partial value, the individual selling price less selling costs and, if applicable, the profit margin is the lower limit.
In fact, the partial value concept is being abandoned and there is a switch to cost or market-based value concepts.
The partial value is the market value of the asset on the balance sheet date. For stocks , this is the current price, for machines, the resale value. A calculation scheme for determining the partial value is specified in the income tax guidelines for slow-moving goods. In general, the partial value is the amount a stranger would pay if they took over the company. The partial value of a property increases, for example, when the transport links are improved and decreases when soil contamination is detected. However, if an entrepreneur pays an excess price for a property for company-specific reasons (e.g. rounding-off), this does not justify the use of a lower partial value, because an intended purchaser of the entire company would also take these specific reasons into account.
Regulation of the partial value depreciation before the Accounting Law Modernization Act
This section relates to the legal situation before the Accounting Law Modernization Act (BilMoG) came into effect, i.e. it no longer applies to accounting for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2009.
Under commercial law, the current assets always had to be written down to the lower fair value. In the event of permanent impairment, the fixed assets had to be written down to a lower value. In terms of income tax, the partial value depreciation was only permitted in the event of permanent depreciation. Due to the principle of relevance , the compulsory depreciation under commercial law to the lower partial value, in the case of permanent impairment, was also decisive for tax law via § 5 EStG . The tax option for partial depreciation for fixed assets in the event of permanent depreciation has thus been converted into a compulsion.
With the depreciation of current assets , differences could arise between the commercial and tax balance sheets, since under commercial law depreciation had to be carried out independently of a permanent decrease in value, but tax law prohibits depreciation in the case of temporary depreciation. According to the imparity principle , the regulations on partial value depreciation are to be applied accordingly to the valuation of liabilities . This means that in the case of foreign currency liabilities, exchange rate losses of an anticipated duration are to be recorded as of the balance sheet date, while exchange rate gains only become effective at the time of realization.
Regulation taking into account the Accounting Law Modernization Act
As before, no partial value depreciation is permitted without permanent impairment. In the event of permanent impairment , write-downs can be made (Section 6 (1) No. 1, sentence 2 of the Income Tax Act). In contrast to commercial law, depreciation is voluntary. The principle of relevance has been repealed, so that taxation can now be written off differently than under commercial law. Thus you can show an unscheduled depreciation in the commercial balance sheet, but let the scheduled depreciation continue in the tax balance sheet.
The requirements for applying a lower partial value must be checked on each balance sheet date. If the partial value has risen or, if the partial value is lower, the decrease in value is no longer likely to be permanent, the higher new value must be added under both commercial and tax law (reversal of value), up to a maximum of the acquisition cost less scheduled depreciation. If a depreciation to the lower partial value was made on the previous balance sheet date and the conditions remain unchanged, it is disputed whether the lower partial value can or must be retained.
Individual evidence
- ↑ A. Luhmer: On the logic of the partial value. In: Schmalenbach's magazine for business research. 37th vol. 1985, pp. 1051-1069.
- ↑ H 6.7 EStH partial value assumptions
