In a company, investments in machines, computers or buildings lose value over time. Depreciation accounts for wear and tear and loss of value in the accounts.
When depreciating an asset, the life of the asset is a central criterion for determining the amount of depreciation. Assets that wear out more quickly or have a short life, such as a laptop, thus have significantly higher depreciation rates than other long-lived assets such as houses.
Amount of depreciation rates
The Federal Tax Administration publishes guide values for the maximum depreciation rates recognised for tax purposes. Please note that cantonal differences must also be taken into account. The values refer to the application of the diminishing balance method, i.e., the calculation of depreciation on the book value of the asset.
• Residential buildings (buildings only) (2%)
• Commercial buildings (buildings only) (4%)
• Factories/workshops/storage buildings (8%)
• Professional furniture (25%)
• Equipment and machinery used for production purposes (30%)
• Motor vehicles (40%)
• Trailers (30%)
• Office machines and computer equipment (40%)
• Patents/licences/goodwill (40%)
• Tools (45%)
• Hotel and restaurant crockery (45%)
For the straight-line method, i.e., calculating depreciation on the acquisition value of the corresponding asset, the depreciation rates mentioned are divided by two.
