Tax reduction for the purchase of works of art and musical instruments

Verified 21 February 2026 - Entreprendre Service Public / (Prime Minister)

The company that buys a original work of art or a musical instrument before 31 December 2028 may deduct the purchase price of its taxable income. To benefit from this tax advantage, the company must meet certain conditions.

Works of art

The tax deduction for the purchase of a work of art is available to the following companies:

  • Businesses subject to business tax : automatically or optionally
  • Businesses and individual entrepreneurs subject to income tax in the category of BIC: titleContent

Warning  

Companies subject to income tax in the non-commercial profits (BNC) are excluded from this scheme.

The tax deduction applies for the purchase oforiginal works and entirely executed by the hand of the artist :

  • Table, painting, drawing, watercolor, gouache, pastel, monotype
  • Engraving, stamping and lithography, drawn in limited number directly from boards. The technique or material used is not important, except for any mechanical or photomechanical process
  • Production in all materials of statuary art or sculpture and assembly
  • Sculpture font limited edition of 8 copies and controlled by the artist or his rights holders
  • Tapestry handmade, based on original cardboard provided by the artist, limited to 8 copies
  • Unique copy of ceramic, signed by the artist
  • Enamel on copper, within the limit of 8 numbered copies and with the signature of the artist
  • Photography taken by the artist, drawn by him or under his control, signed and numbered within the limit of 30 copies, all formats and supports combined.

On the other hand, manufactured objects made by craftsmen or so-called industrialists craftsmen or art manufacturers are not original works. Similarly, articles of jewelry, goldsmithing and jewelry are excluded from the scheme.

Warning  

The works purchased for resale and which are among the stocks of the company are not eligible for deduction. Thus, dealers, art galleries or any company involved in the transactions of works of art are excluded the tax deduction scheme.

To benefit from the tax deduction, the company must ensure that several conditions are filled.

Artist still alive

The artist must be living at the time of purchase of the work. It is up to the company to prove the existence of the artist at the date of acquisition.

Exhibition of the work

The company must have the work of art displayed in a place accessible free of charge to the public or employees (except its offices).

The duration of the exposure is fixed at 5 years. This period corresponds to the accounting year in which the work was acquired and the following 4 years.

Please note

Exposure must be continue for the required 5 years. It cannot be occasional and limited to one-off events (temporary exhibition, seasonal festival...).)

Concretely, the exhibition of the work can be carried out in different ways:

  • In the company premises, provided that they are effectively accessible to the public or employees
  • In a museum to which the property is placed on deposit
  • In a public scientific, cultural or professional establishment : for example, universities, colleges of higher education, national polytechnic institutes
  • When demonstrations organized by the company or by a museum, a local authority or a public institution to which the property has been entrusted

On the other hand, the work should not be placed in a room reserved for one person or a small group of people.

Example :

A company that exhibits the work acquired in an employee's office, a personal residence or in a location reserved for customers could not benefit from the tax advantage.

Whatever the conditions of exposure to the public adopted by the company, the public must be informed the exhibition venue and its accessibility to the property. The company must therefore communicate the appropriate information to the public.

It must do so by attractive indications at the exhibition site and by all promotional means adapted to the importance of the work.

Accounting obligations

The company must respect 2 accounting obligations :

  • Save the work in fixed asset in its accounting
  • Assign the amount of tax deductions to a special reserve account, in the passive of the balance sheet. The company must attach to its income statement a document concerning the constitution of this reserve, in accordance with the template presented by the tax administration.

Special reserve established pursuant to Article 238a AB of the CGI

The basis of the deduction shall be purchase price excluding tax of the work, to which are added any incidental costs (eg: transport of the work). On the other hand, expenses that are not included in the purchase price (e.g. commission paid to an art dealer) are excluded from the basis of the deduction. The latter are immediately deductible.

Modalities of application

The tax deduction is spread over 5 years (year of acquisition and the next 4 years) by equal fractions. Thus, it is equal each year to 1/5e (20%) of the cost price of the work. If the acquisition is made during the year, the deduction is not reduced pro rata temporis.

Example :

A company acquires the work of an artist alive for €1500 HT: titleContent. It may make a tax deduction of €300 each year, between year N (year of acquisition) and year N+4.

The amounts are deducted from the profit or loss for the year, according to the company's tax system:

Warning  

the tax cut is not catchable. Any deduction not made by the company in respect of a year is definitely lost.

Limitation of deduction

Amounts are deductible within the limit of €20,000 or 5‰ of turnover excluding company tax where the latter amount is higher. This annual ceiling shall be reduced by the payments made under patronage.

If the portion of the purchase price cannot be fully deducted in respect of a year, the unused surplus is lost. It cannot be carried forward to be deducted in a subsequent year.

Example :

1. In year N, a company shall €5 000 000 of turnover excluding tax. For that financial year, the applicable ceiling is therefore set at 5‰ of its turnover HT: titleContent (€25,000).

The company acquires the work of a living artist for €150,000 HT: titleContent. The tax reduction will be phased in over the next 5 accounting years, or at most €30,000 per year (150,000/5).

Due to the cap, the tax deduction is limited to €25,000 for year N, the surplus is lost.

2. In year N+1, the company shall €6.5 MILLION of turnover excluding tax. For this financial year, the ceiling shall be €32,500. The company therefore benefits from a tax reduction of €30,000 in year N+1.

This logic is repeated until exercise N+4.

The tax advantage granted to the company may be questioned. Therefore, the amount deducted must be reinstated in taxable profit extra-accountancy.

The cases of questioning are as follows:

  • Change of assignment : the work is no longer on public display
  • Transfer of the work : the good comes out of thefixed asset, by reason of a sale or donation
  • Withdrawal from reserve account : the withdrawal of all or part of the sums allocated to the special reserve account entails a reinstatement of the sums withdrawn in the profits taxable at the ordinary rate

Musical Instruments

The tax deduction for the purchase of musical instruments is available for the following companies:

  • Businesses subject to business tax : automatically or optionally
  • Businesses and individual entrepreneurs subject to income tax in the category of BIC: titleContent

Warning  

companies subject to income tax in the non-commercial profits (BNC) are excluded from this scheme.

To benefit from the tax deduction, the company must respect several obligations.

Loan of the instrument

The company must commit to lend the musical instrument to the performers free of charge who request it.

In concrete terms, the instrument can be lent to following persons :

  • Person following a musical training in a musical educational establishment
  • Person with a musical qualification. The diploma must correspond to a cycle 3 of national conservatory of region (or national school of music) or a European equivalent
  • Student and former student of the National Conservatories of Music of Paris and Lyon
  • Person exercising, in a professional capacity, an activity as a performer

The company must be able to demonstrate that it advertising of its loan offer to the public potentially concerned. It must also be able to prove that the instruments have been lent to performers of the required level.

Accounting obligations

The company must respect 2 accounting obligations :

  • Save musical instrument as fixed asset in company accounting
  • Assign the amount of tax deductions to a special reserve account, in the passive of the balance sheet. The company must attach to its income statement a document concerning the constitution of this reserve, in accordance with the template presented by the tax administration.

Special reserve established pursuant to Article 238a AB of the CGI

The basis of the deduction shall be purchase price excluding tax the musical instrument, plus any incidental costs (e.g. transport of the goods). On the other hand, commissions paid to intermediaries are excluded from the basis of the deduction. These are immediately deductible.

Modalities of application

The tax deduction is spread over 5 years (year of acquisition and the next 4 years) by equal fractions. Thus, it is equal each year to 1/5e (20%) the cost price of the instrument. If the acquisition is made during the year, the deduction is not reduced pro rata temporis.

Example :

A company acquires a musical instrument for €1500 HT: titleContent. It may make a tax deduction of €300 each year, between year N (year of acquisition) and year N+4.

Under the company tax system, the amounts are deducted from the profit or loss for the year as follows:

Warning  

the tax cut is not catchable. Any deduction not made by the company in respect of a year is definitely lost.

Limitation of deduction

Amounts are deductible within the limit of €20,000 or 5‰ of turnover excluding company tax where the latter amount is higher. This annual ceiling shall be reduced by the payments made under patronage.

If the portion of the purchase price cannot be fully deducted in respect of a year, the unused surplus is lost. It cannot be carried forward to be deducted in a subsequent year.

Example :

1. In year N, a company shall €5 000 000 of turnover excluding tax. For that financial year, the applicable ceiling is therefore set at 5‰ of its turnover HT: titleContent (€25,000).

The company acquires musical instruments for €150,000 HT: titleContent. The tax reduction will be phased in over the next 5 accounting years, or at most €30,000 per year (150,000 / 5).

Due to the cap, the tax deduction is limited to €25,000 for year N, the surplus is lost.

2. In year N+1, the company shall €6.5 MILLION of turnover excluding tax. For this financial year, the ceiling shall be €32,500. The company therefore benefits from a tax reduction of €30,000 in year N+1.

This logic is repeated until exercise N+4.

The tax advantage granted to the company may be questioned. Therefore, the amount deducted must be reinstated in fiscal result company.

The cases of questioning are as follows:

  • Change of assignment : the instrument is no longer loaned to a performer
  • Assignment of the instrument : the good comes out of thefixed asset, by reason of a sale or donation
  • Withdrawal from reserve account : the withdrawal of all or part of the sums allocated to the special reserve account entails a reinstatement of the sums withdrawn in the profits taxable at the ordinary rate

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