What useful life should be considered when estimating the TAB factor of an intangible asset?
Amortisation of intangible assets is not always tax deductible. Its deductibility depends on the corporate income tax legislation of single countries. Most countries define maximum amortisation rates or minimum number of years in which the amortisation of intangible assets can be deducted, if at all. This page displays the legal tax amortisation periods of the main types of intangible assets.
Summary Table
| Country | Patents | Technology | Trademark | Customer relationships | Goodwill | Last update |
| Italy | RUL (≥2) | RUL (≥2) | RUL (≥18) | RUL (≥18) | RUL (≥18) | Apr 2016 |
Further Detail and Source Legislation
Tax amortisation of intangibles in Italy is determined by the Consolidated Income Tax Law.[1]
The first limit to the tax deduction of the amortisation of an asset is the value of the amortisation booked for accounting purposes in the financial statements. As a consequence, all the amortisation quotes in order to be tax deducted have at least to be duly booked in the statutory accounts.
Article 103 ("Ammortamento dei beni immateriali")[2] of the Consolidated Income Tax Law defines maximum yearly amortisation amounts for different types of intangible assets:
- Intellectual property and patents can be amortised by a yearly maximum of a 50% their value (Paragraph 1).
- Tax amortisation periods of concessions must be aligned with the duration established by the contract or by the law (Paragraph 2).
- Brands can be amortised by a yearly maximum of one eighteenth of their value (Paragraph 1).
- Customer relationships: no tax provisions deal directly with the customer list amortisation. In general, the value granted to a customer list could be assimilated, for tax purposes to a goodwill. As a consequence, the customer list value duly paid and booked in the intangible asset could be tax amortised by one eighteenth of its value per year.
- Goodwill can be amortised by a yearly maximum of one eighteenth of its value (Paragraph 3).
