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Depreciation of scientific and technical equipment

The FCT has been promoting initiatives to establish a more appropriate context for accounting expenses with equipment depreciation within the scope of R&D activities. After analysis of the opinion of the Accounting Standards Committee by the FCT and the Operational Programs, the FCT releases a clarification on the accounting policy applicable to scientific and technical equipment, meeting the questions raised by the institutions.

Considering that, to be competitive and innovative, research must be supported by state-of-the-art equipment, subject to marked technological obsolescence, SCTN entities may adopt different accounting methods: i) adjust the equipment's depreciation rate to its actual utility level, provided it is validated by the Chartered Accountant (ROC) and so recorded in the accounts; ii) define the equipment's useful life as a function of its expected use, provided it is justified on a case-by-case basis by the entity's management body and so recorded in the accounts.

This clarification, which can be consulted here, will also be the target of Technical Guidance by the Operational Programs of Portugal 2020.