[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 48, Volume 1] [Revised as of October 1, 2002] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 48CFR31.205-11] [Page 592-594] TITLE 48--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATIONS SYSTEM CHAPTER 1--FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION PART 31--CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES--Table of Contents Subpart 31.2--Contracts With Commercial Organizations Sec. 31.205-11 Depreciation. (a) Depreciation is a charge to current operations which distributes the cost of a tangible capital asset, less estimated residual value, over the estimated useful life of the asset in a systematic and logical manner. It does not involve a process of valuation. Useful life refers to the prospective period of economic usefulness in a particular contractor's operations as distinguished from physical life; it is evidenced by the actual or estimated retirement and replacement practice of the contractor. (b) Contractors having contracts subject to 48 CFR 9904.409, Depreciation of Tangible Capital Assets, must adhere to the requirement of that standard for all fully CAS-covered contracts and may elect to adopt the standard for all other contracts. All requirements of 48 CFR 9904.409 are applicable if the election is made, and its requirements supersede any conflicting requirements of this cost principle. Once electing to adopt 48 CFR 9904.409 for all contracts, contractors must continue to follow it until notification of final acceptance of all deliverable items on all open negotiated Government contracts. Paragraphs (c) through (e) below apply to contracts to which 48 CFR 9904.409 is not applied. (c) Normal depreciation on a contractor's plant, equipment, and other capital facilities is an allowable contract cost, if the contractor is able to demonstrate that it is reasonable and allocable (but see paragraph (i) below). (d) Depreciation shall be considered reasonable if the contractor follows policies and procedures that are-- (1) Consistent with those followed in the same cost center for business other than Government; (2) Reflected in the contractor's books of accounts and financial statements; and (3) Both used and acceptable for Federal income tax purposes. (e) When the depreciation reflected on a contractor's books of accounts and financial statements differs from that used and acceptable for Federal income tax purposes, reimbursement shall be based on the asset cost amortized over the estimated useful life of the property using depreciation methods (straight line, sum of the years' digits, etc.) acceptable for income tax purposes. Allowable depreciation shall not exceed the amounts used for book and statement purposes and shall be determined in a manner consistent with the depreciation policies and procedures followed in the same cost center on non-Government business (but see paragraph (o) of this subsection). (f) Depreciation for reimbursement purposes in the case of tax- exempt organizations shall be determined on the basis described in paragraph (e) immediately above. (g) Special considerations are required for assets acquired before the effective date of this cost principle if, on that date, the undepreciated balance of these assets resulting from depreciation policies and procedures used previously for Government contracts and subcontracts is different from the undepreciated balance on the books and financial statements. The undepreciated balance for contract cost purposes shall be depreciated over the remaining life using the methods and lives followed for book purposes. The aggregate depreciation of any asset allowable after the effective date of this 31.205-11 shall not exceed the cost basis of the asset less any depreciation allowed or allowable under prior acquisition regulations. (h) Depreciation should usually be allocated to the contract and other work as an indirect cost. The amount of depreciation allowed in any accounting period may, consistent with the basic objectives in paragraph (a) above, vary with volume of production or use of multishift operations. (i) In the case of emergency facilities covered by certificates of necessity, a contractor may elect to use normal depreciation without requesting a determination of true depreciation, or may elect to use either normal or true depreciation after a determination of true depreciation has been made by an Emergency Facilities Depreciation Board (EFDB). The method elected must be followed consistently thoughout the life of the emergency facility. When an election is made to use normal depreciation, the criteria in paragraphs (c), (d), (e), and (f) above shall apply for both the emergency period and the [[Page 593]] post-emergency period. When an election is made to use true depreciation, the amount allowable as depreciation-- (1) With respect to the emergency period (five years), shall be computed in accordance with the determination of the EFDB and allocated rateably over the full five year emergency period; provided no other allowance is made which would duplicate the factors, such as extraordinary obsolescence, covered by the Board's determination; and (2) After the end of the emergency period, shall be computed by distributing the remaining undepreciated portion of the cost of the emergency facility over the balance of its useful life provided the remaining undepreciated portion of such cost shall not include any amount of unrecovered true depreciation. (j) No depreciation, rental, or use charge shall be allowed on property acquired at no cost from the Government by the contractor or by any division, subsidiary, or affiliate of the contractor under common control. (k) The depreciation on any item which meets the criteria for allowance at a price under 31.205-26(e) may be based on that price, provided the same policies and procedures are used for costing all business of the using division, subsidiary, or organization under common control. (l) No depreciation or rental shall be allowed on property fully depreciated by the contractor or by any division, subsidiary, or affiliate of the contractor under common control. However, a reasonable charge for using fully depreciated property may be agreed upon and allowed (but see 31.109(h)(2)). In determining the charge, consideration shall be given to cost, total estimated useful life at the time of negotiations, effect of any increased maintenance charges or decreased efficiency due to age, and the amount of depreciation previously charged to Government contracts or subcontracts. (m) 48 CFR 9904.404, Capitalization of Tangible Assets, applies to assets acquired by a capital lease as defined in Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 13 (FAS-13), Accounting for Leases, issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Compliance with 48 CFR 9904.404 and FAS-13 requires that such leased assets (capital leases) be treated as purchased assets; i.e., be capitalized and the capitalized value of such assets be distributed over their useful lives as depreciation charges, or over the leased life as amortization charges as appropriate. Assets whose leases are classified as capital leases under FAS-13 are subject to the requirements of 31.205-11 while assets acquired under leases classified as operating leases are subject to the requirements on rental costs in 31.205-36. The standards of financial accounting and reporting prescribed by FAS-13 are incorporated into this principle and shall govern its application, except as provided in subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3) below. (1) Rental costs under a sale and leaseback arrangement shall be allowable up to the amount that would have been allowed had the contractor retained title to the property. (2) Capital leases, as defined in FAS-13, for all real and personal property, between any related parties are subject to the requirements of this subparagraph 31.205-11(m). If it is determined that the terms of the lease have been significantly affected by the fact that the lessee and lessor are related, depreciation charges shall not be allowed in excess of those which would have occurred if the lease contained terms consistent with those found in a lease between unrelated parties. (3) Assets acquired under leases that the contractor must capitalize under FAS-13 shall not be treated as purchased assets for contract purposes if the leases are covered by 31.205-36(b)(4). (n) Whether or not the contract is otherwise subject to CAS, the requirements of 31.205-52, which limit the allowability of depreciation, shall be observed. (o) In the event of a write-down from carrying value to fair value as a result of impairments caused by events or changes in circumstances, allowable depreciation of the impaired assets shall be limited to the amounts that would have been allowed had the assets not been written down (see 31.205-16(g)). However, this does not preclude a change in depreciation resulting from other causes such as permissible changes in estimates of service life, [[Page 594]] consumption of services, or residual value. [48 FR 42301, Sept. 19, 1983, as amended at 55 FR 25530, June 21, 1990; 57 FR 39591, Aug. 31, 1992; 60 FR 64255, Dec. 14, 1995; 61 FR 67424, Dec. 20, 1996]