Dentist: depreciating the chair, cone beam and CAD/CAM in a SELARL

Quick answer. In a dentist's SELARL, technical equipment is depreciated on a straight-line basis over its useful life: approx. 5 to 10 years for a chair, approx. 5 years for a cone beam, 3 to 5 years for CAD/CAM. Because dental care is VAT-exempt, the depreciation base is the VAT-inclusive amount.

You install a new chair, a cone beam (CBCT) or a CAD/CAM line, and the invoice runs into the tens of thousands of euros. The question is not purely accounting: the way you depreciate this equipment drives your SELARL's taxable income and the pace at which the charge eases your corporate tax.

This article focuses on a single topic, the depreciation of technical equipment: periods, method, calculation base and entries. For the legal structure, the SELARL choice and the SPFPL holding, see our dedicated guide on the accounting of a dental practice in a SELARL and SPFPL.

Depreciation spreads the cost of a fixed asset over its actual useful life. This definition appears in the French general chart of accounts and in the BOFiP (BOI-BIC-AMT-10-40). In practice, you do not deduct the chair in the year of purchase: you spread its charge over the period during which it serves your activity.

In a SELARL subject to corporate tax, each depreciation charge reduces the year's taxable income. The reduced corporate tax rate of 15% applies up to 42,500 € of profit under conditions, then 25% above (CGI art. 219). A well-built depreciation schedule therefore smooths the result and the tax cash flow over several years.

Our take. The instinct is often to think "how much do I deduct this year". The right instinct is to think about the cycle: a cone beam depreciated over five years generates a steady charge, whereas a mistaken expensing distorts both the result and the value of your working tool. Schedule consistency matters more than the immediate deduction.

Dental care is VAT-exempt under CGI art. 261, 4-1°. The direct consequence: your practice does not recover VAT on its equipment purchases. The asset is therefore recorded on the balance sheet and depreciated on its VAT-inclusive amount, not on the net-of-tax amount.

This mechanism changes the depreciation base significantly. By way of example, a chair invoiced at 30,000 € net is recorded at 36,000 € including VAT at 20%, and it is this VAT-inclusive amount that is spread over the useful life. Confusing net and gross amounts understates the asset and reduces the deductible charge each year.

The same logic applies to the small-equipment threshold. The BOFiP (BOI-BIC-CHG-20-10-10) tolerates expensing directly small equipment, tooling and furniture whose unit value does not exceed 500 € net. For a dentist who does not recover VAT, this threshold is assessed inclusive of VAT. Transport equipment is always excluded: it remains capitalised.

The underestimated risk. We regularly see depreciation schedules built on the net amount out of habit, as for a taxable activity. On a technical platform worth several hundred thousand euros, the difference in base between net and gross translates into an understated annual charge and a poorly valued net asset on the balance sheet. It is a silent error, never flagged by software, corrected only at the accounts review.

Declining-balance depreciation (CGI art. 39 A) is reserved for a limited list of assets (CGI annex II art. 22), used in industrial operations. The equipment of a dental practice, a liberal health profession, falls in practice under the straight-line method.

Trade-off. The temptation of the declining-balance method comes from its heavier charge in the early years. But for a liberal practice it is excluded in practice: the equipment is not on the list of eligible assets. If, by exception, an eligible asset were involved, the declining-balance coefficients would be 1.25 for a 3 to 4-year period, 1.75 for 5 to 6 years and 2.25 beyond 6 years. For almost all dental platforms, the straight-line method remains the only path, and it has the merit of being easy to defend in the event of an audit.

The periods below are commonly used useful lives, indicative, to be adjusted to your actual use. They are not a fixed legal obligation: it is the actual useful life that underpins the depreciation schedule.

The general chart of accounts also allows depreciation by component: equipment with parts of different lifespans can be split and depreciated separately. A full CAD/CAM line, for example, can combine a more durable hardware part and modules with faster renewal.

What the tax authorities look at. A useful life must be consistent with your actual replacement cycle and with the profession's practices. Depreciating a chair over three years when it stays in service for ten, or using a net base for a non-taxable practice, are points that call for an explanation. The consistency between the invoice, the commissioning date and the depreciation schedule is the first item examined.

In practice. Here is the sequence we follow in dental-practice files, at each equipment acquisition.

1. Gather the invoice, the delivery note and the commissioning date of the equipment.
2. Check the capitalisation test: above 500 € including VAT per unit (threshold assessed VAT-inclusive for a dentist), the asset is capitalised.
3. Determine the base: VAT-inclusive amount, including installation and commissioning costs.
4. Set the useful life from the table above, adjusted to your replacement cycle.
5. Build the straight-line depreciation schedule, with pro rata in year one from the commissioning date.
6. Record the asset on the balance sheet and book the charge at each year-end.

We maintain and review these schedules as part of the bookkeeping and review of your accounts, with asset tracking in a tool such as Pennylane to keep a clear record of each piece of equipment, its base and its accumulated depreciation.

Common case: a practice investing in a CAD/CAM line#

A practice we support invested in a CAD/CAM line (intraoral scanner, milling unit, 3D printer) during the year. Three instincts guided the treatment: use the VAT-inclusive base since care is VAT-exempt, set a useful life of 3 to 5 years consistent with the fast obsolescence of this equipment, and apply pro rata in year one. Small accessories below 500 € including VAT were expensed, the rest capitalised. The result: a deductible charge spread over time and a correctly valued asset on the balance sheet, with no surprise at review.

Leasing (crédit-bail) is an alternative to purchase. The asset is not recorded on your SELARL's balance sheet: you do not depreciate it, but the rentals are deductible as they are paid. The charge then follows the contract schedule, not a depreciation plan.

Trade-off. Purchase builds an asset and preserves your borrowing capacity, but ties up cash. Leasing preserves cash and offers a steady charge, sometimes with a final purchase option, but the asset does not appear on your balance sheet until the option is exercised. The choice is made case by case, in connection with your wealth situation: we examine it with you as part of our advisory work to weigh purchase, leasing and the practitioner's wealth.

Disposing of equipment generates a gain or loss. In a SELARL subject to corporate tax, this gain or loss is included in the taxable income for the year of disposal. You must therefore derecognise the asset, clear its accumulated depreciation and record the disposal result.

Points of attention for 2026.

• Keep the VAT-inclusive base used at the outset: it is the reference for calculating the disposal result.
• Do not mix useful lives between items: a schedule per asset (or per component) avoids adjustments.
• Document the commissioning date: it determines the pro rata in year one.
• Match each item of equipment to its invoice in the asset register, to make disposals and reviews reliable.

The overall consistency of the tax treatment (corporate tax, periods, VAT-inclusive base) is secured as part of the tax management of your SELARL.

Hayot Expertise, registered with the Île-de-France Order of Chartered Accountants, supports dental surgeons practising through a company. Beyond the depreciation of technical equipment, we handle all the sector's specificities, as detailed in our accounting support for dental surgeons and our dedicated offering for dentists' SELARLs. For the detail of equipment, prosthetics and VAT, see also our article on equipment, prosthetics and VAT in a dental practice.