OFFICIAL FRENCH GOVERNMENT INFORMATION WEBSITE FOR BUSINESSES
January 2024 – Direction de l'information légale et administrative (DILA) (excerpt)

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You can benefit from tax advantages when you buy a work of art from a living artist, whether you are a private individual or a business.

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As a private individual: buying a work of art from a living artist

If you are liable for the IFI (French real estate wealth tax), please note that works of art are not included in your taxable assets.

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Buying an original work of art is a decision driven by aesthetic values, but it also offers tax and financial advantages. It is an attractive way to:

• optimise your tax position,

• diversify your investments,

• enhance the value of your assets.

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With the right strategy, it can also become a source of capital gain.

But above all, it is the thoughts and emotions a work inspires in you that lead you to acquire it. The bond you feel is personal: a unique experience that grows deeper every day as you live alongside the work.
This emotional added value is priceless.

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🔗 Find out more…Réduction d'impôt pour l'achat d'œuvres d'art et d'instruments de musique – Entreprendre.Service-Public.fr (in French)

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As a business: buying a work of art from a living artist

The tax deduction for purchasing a work of art is available to the following businesses:

• companies subject to corporation tax, either automatically or by election;

• companies and sole traders subject to income tax under the BIC category (industrial and commercial profits).

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The deduction applies to the purchase of original works executed entirely by the artist's own hand, whatever their nature.
The work must be displayed in a place freely accessible to the public or to employees (offices excluded).

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Display period: 5 years
This period covers the financial year of acquisition and the following 4 years.

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How it works
The tax deduction is spread over 5 years in equal instalments: each year, 1/5 (20%) of the work's purchase price.

Example:
A business acquires a work by a living artist for €1,500 excluding VAT.
It can deduct €300 each year, from year N to year N+4.

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Important:
If the purchase is made during the year, the deduction is not reduced on a pro rata basis.

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📞 Get advice
Talk to your chartered accountant to check whether you are eligible.

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Find out more…

• French General Tax Code (CGI), Article 238 bis AB → tax deduction

• French General Tax Code (CGI), Annex III, Article 98 A → tax definition of works of art

• BOFiP-Impôts, BOI-BIC-CHG-70-10 → expenditure on acquiring works by living artists or musical instruments