Making Deferred Taxes Relevant

Abstract

We analyse the conceptual problems in current accounting for deferred taxes and provide solutions derived from the literature in order to make International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) deferred tax numbers value-relevant. In our view, the empirical results concerning the value relevance of deferred taxes should find their way into the accounting standard-setting process. We conclude that deferred taxes should only be recognised for temporary differences that will result in real future tax payments and/or tax receipts. Temporary differences for which the tax cash flow has already occurred have valuation implications for the underlying asset or liability and should, therefore, be accounted for based on the valuation adjustment approach. Furthermore, we conclude that partial allocation should replace comprehensive allocation in order to better align deferred taxes with expected future cash flows and thus increase their relevance and understandability. Finally, we conclude that deferred tax balances should be measured on a discounted basis to address time value.     

The Valuation of Deferred Taxation: Evidence from the UK Partial Provision Approach

The UK provides a virtually unique environment in which to examine the information content of the partial provision approach to deferred tax accounting. In addition this issue is of particular interest to UK accounting standard setters in the light of trends towards international accounting standard harmonisation. Taking the total amount of deferred taxation to be equal to the partial balance sheet provision plus the potential portion appearing in the notes, this study tests the relationship between these various deferred tax components and market value. It also examines the economic rationale for the potential portion. The study is based on 1,512 company/years from the period 1989–1991. It finds that, while the full amount of deferred taxation is not valued by the market as a liability, there is evidence of the partial balance sheet provision being so valued. There is also evidence that the potential portion is positively related to market value, consistent with its proxying for information about future growth. This result is supported by the positive relation between the potential portion and measures of future capital spending, indicative of an underlying economic rationale for this deferred taxation component. From a regulatory perspective, the study concludes that the main benefit of the partial provision approach is that the balance sheet amount constitutes a reasonably reliable measure of the portion likely to crystallise as a liability, information that would be lost were only the full amount to be disclosed.     

Market's perception of deferred tax accruals

This study investigates the value relevance and incremental information content of deferred tax accruals reported under the ‘income statement method’ (AASB 1020 Accounting for Income Taxes) over the period 2001–2004. Our findings suggest that deferred tax accruals are viewed as assets and liabilities. We document a positive relation between recognized deferred tax assets and firm value using the levels model, while the results from the returns model suggest that deferred tax liabilities reflect future tax payments. The balance of unrecognized deferred tax assets provides a negative signal to the market about future profitability, particularly for companies from the materials and energy sectors and loss‐makers.     

递延所得税核算问题探究——解读资产、负债的计税基础

2006新准则有关所得税核算的一个重大变化,是从原来的"应付税款法"变为"纳税影响会计法",且要求企业采用"资产负债表债务法"核算其递延所得税。"资产负债表债务法"的关键问题是确定资产、负债的计税基础,资产、负债的计税基础确定了,其暂时性差异也就确定了,相应地,递延所得税资产或递延所得税负债的确认、计量也就迎刃而解了。本文结合国际上对资产、负债的计税基础的阐释,结合我国实际情况,提出了一套确定资产、负债计税基础的切实可行的程序和方法。     

新所得税准则对上市公司盈利能力影响分析

新所得税准则要求企业运用资产负债表债务法进行所得税核算。资产负债表债务法通过比较资产负债的计税基础计算出应纳税暂时性差异和可抵扣暂时性差异,进而确认当期递延所得税,调整当期的所得税费用,所得税费用的调整会影响企业当期的净利润,进而影响股东的每股收益。因此,暂时性差异会影响企业的盈利能力。本文采用统计分析方法,分析新所得税准则对上市公司盈利能力的影响。     

The ability of deferred tax to predict future tax

We examine the usefulness of tax allocation accounting (deferred tax) for predicting future tax paid and future tax expense. Deferred taxes increase the explanatory power (R²) of regression models where future taxes paid or future tax expense is the dependent variable. However, the mean out‐of‐sample forecast errors for tax paid (future tax expense) is 30 (45.5) percent. Deferred tax increases predictive ability on pooled data, but is inconsistent on a year‐by‐year basis. We examine three explanations for poor predictive ability: losses, tax changes and asset growth. We discuss the policy and practical implications of our findings.     

The Financial Crisis and the Value‐relevance of Recognised Deferred Tax Assets

The objective of this study is to consider if the value‐relevance of recognised deferred tax assets, which often represent unused tax losses, was affected by the financial crisis. A regression analysis of a sample of Australian and United Kingdom firms reveals that the value‐relevance of recognised deferred tax assets was affected by the financial crisis. However, the impact of the financial crisis differed between the sample countries. The study shows that a plausible explanation for this difference might be found in the tax law of the two countries. Findings of this paper will be of interest to regulators and standard setters, as they highlight how interaction between accounting requirements and tax law affects the relevance of accounting and tax information.     

所得税会计处理:新准则与旧规范的比较分析

财政部新发布的《企业会计准则第18号——所得税》，摒弃了旧规范中所得税会计处理的应付税款法和纳税影响会计法，规定采用资产负债表债务法进行所得税的会计核算，从而导致新准则与旧规范在会计与税法的差异定义、收益确定、所得税费用计算、亏损会计处理等方面存在着很大的差异。新准则基本实现了与国际会计准则的趋同。     

The Relevance of Asset Revaluations over an Economic Cycle

The results of tests reported in this paper show that asset revaluations accounted for in accordance with AAS 10/AASB 1010 provide information that is consistent with the information set used by investors in pricing the shares of a sample of Australian listed firms. The "value relevance" of asset revaluations occurs in periods of both rising and declining asset prices.     

The impact of debt on market reactions to the revaluation of noncurrent assets

This study provides evidence that noncurrent asset revaluations are differentially considered by market participants based on the level of debt in the capital structure. Contracting theory (e.g. Brown et al., Abacus 28 (1992) 36) implies that revaluations made by firms with high-debt levels may be viewed as being opportunistic, while revaluations for firms with low-debt levels may be viewed as reducing information asymmetry between the firm and capital providers. For a sample of New Zealand firm/years that excludes certain observations with extreme stock returns, we find that revaluations of fixed assets are more value-relevant for firms with low leverage than for firms with high leverage. This suggests that the value relevance of fixed asset valuations depends on management's motivation for making the revaluation. The results of the research should be considered within certain limitations such as a small sample.     

会计之资产负债表债务法探讨

随着"兼容"多种计量属性、以资产负债表为重心的新<企业会计准则>的实施,会计与税法的游戏规则渐行渐远,会计所得与应税所得的差异即所得税会计差异日益扩大,如何顺利地实现二者的衔接与协调,不仅关系到会计信息的质量,也关系到企业所得税的缴纳与征收.     

The Aggregation and Valuation of Deferred Taxes

Review of Accounting Studies - This paper clarifies some of the conflicting arguments about the value relevance of deferred taxes. We address two questions. First, does accounting aggregation hold,...     

Asset Revaluations and Debt Contracting

The research question investigated is: Do managers of Australian firms use upward asset revaluations to reduce debt contracting costs? Prior research, using sample periods from the 1970s and early 1980s, provides evidence that asset revaluations are used to reduce the costs of debt contracting (see Whittred and Chan, 1992; Brown et al., 1992; Cotter and Zimmer, 1995). However, considerable changes to the institutional set-ting have occurred in the past decade. These institutional changes include increased regulation of asset revaluations and disclosures, changes in the macroeconomic environment, and changes in the Australian debt market. Particularly, there has been a shift in emphasis from public to private debt. The relationship between asset revaluations and debt contracting is examined in the current setting, using refined measures of contracting variables. Interestingly, the results of prior research do not replicate in the current setting. In order to further examine the potential impact of changes to the institutional setting, a series of interviews with chief financial officers is undertaken. The conclusion drawn from this additional analysis is that the relatively closer relationship between firms and their bankers in the current institutional setting has caused many firms to choose footnote disclosure of undervalued assets in preference to recognizing an upward asset revaluation in the balance sheet.     

新旧所得税会计准则的比较

在新的《企业会计准则第18号——所得税》颁布前,我国没有所得税会计准则,只有《企业所得税会计处理的暂行规定》和《企业会计准则——所得税会计(征求意见稿)》,企业主要按照2001年颁布的《企业会计制度》的有关规定执行。本文在对新旧所得税会计准则立法角度、相关内容的比较分析后,举例说明资产负债表债务法下所得税的具体处理办法。     

Personal taxes,cost of insurer equity capital,and the case of offshore hedge fund reinsurers

Insurer investment returns are taxed in the United States at the corporate level and at the personal level when they are distributed to shareholders. This paper examines the implications of personal taxes for the tax cost on insurers equity capital and how these tax costs have varied over time under different tax regimes and with different asset portfolios. The paper also discusses how personal taxes provide tax incentives to form offshore hedge fund reinsurers, which provide an interesting case study illustrating the relevance of personal taxes. Finally, the paper discusses the tax treatment of alternative capital arrangements, such as collateralized reinsurance and sidecars.     

资产负债观与所得税会计的改进

新会计准则已将资产负债观的收益核算理念全面渗透到所得税会计核算中。本文以所得税会计的理论基础为前提,在对资产负债观下所得税会计处理的基础上,详细论述了暂时性差异与递延所得税负债(或资产)的确认、计量和列示。     

The Recognition and Timing of Deferred Tax Liabilities

Abstract:   This paper examines the characteristics of firms that account for deferred tax liabilities related to government investment grants under an extended adoption timing period. Not only the recognition but also the timing decision is associated with changes in future performance and changes in the debt structure. Recognisers outperform non‐recognisers in the future, while early recognition is related to post recognition performance but only for those firms that currently perform well. Changes in the balance sheet structure are also related to both decisions. Firms with recent increases in the debt level tend to postpone recognition, while currently well‐performing firms that increase their future debt level are less likely to recognise deferred taxes.     

Comprehensive versus partial deferred tax liabilities and equity market values

This study investigates the value relevance of the deferred tax liability recognized using comprehensive versus partial allocation. Our research examines New Zealand firms who, prior to the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards, were free to choose between comprehensive and partial allocation. We test the joint hypothesis that the partial, as opposed to comprehensive, deferred tax liability is relevant for equity valuation and is sufficiently reliable to be reflected in investors’ valuation assessments. Our results are consistent with this prediction.     

The value relevance of corporate tax expenses in the presence of partisanship: International evidence

This study examines the value relevance of corporate tax expenses in an international setting and determines whether partisanship plays a role in its informativeness. Our empirical results indicate the greater value relevance of corporate taxes during the administration of right-leaning governments. Moreover, our cross-sectional analysis suggests that corporate tax expense is value-relevant during the administration of right-leaning governments; however, corporate tax expense does not convey information regarding returns when left-leaning parties are in office. These findings highlight the importance of the political orientation of tax policymakers in determining value-related information on corporate tax expenses.     

The 'New' Deferred Tax: a Comment on AARF Discussion Paper No. 22 'Accounting for Income Tax'

Discussion Paper No. 22 Accounting for Income Tax (DP 22), issued by the Australian Accounting Research Foundation, represents significant change through its advocacy of a "balance sheet" rather than the currently prescribed "income statement" approach for the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities. This paper clarifies the differences between the two methods and illustrates their effects on financial statements. It evaluates DP 22's arguments in favour of the balance-sheet approach and provides some guidance on the "usefulness" of deferred tax numbers. The paper concludes that the logical inconsistencies in DP 22, coupled with the available evidence on income-tax allocation, suggest that we should be cautious in making changes to current reporting requirements.