Supreme Court allows companies to deduct their financial charges

The Supreme Court ruling of 26 July 2022 has affirmed that financial expenses accrued for a loan directly and immediately related to the exercise of the company's business activity do not constitute a donation or liberality. 

 

The SC indicates that these expenses are tax deductible, provided that they meet the general requirements for deductibility of the expense:

 

– Accounting registration

– Allocation on an accrual basis

– Documentary justification

 

The ruling endorses this tax benefit, even if the company has its own resources and does not need to have a credit. 

 

The SC ruling states that "the interpretation of the concept of donations and gifts does not allow the inclusion of financial expenses which, as in the case in point, are documented, included in the accounts and clearly have an onerous and not a gratuitous cause". 

 

It states that "these expenses cannot be classified as non-deductible donations or gifts, nor can they be considered as a return on equity that should be excluded from the status of deductible expenses". 

 

In short, financial expenses are deductible for corporate income tax purposes, even if the loans are not related to a specific income or transaction. They simply have to be related to the business activity.