Nguyên lý kế toán - Chapter 16: Accounting for income taxes

Accounting for Income TaxesChapter 16The Internal Revenue Code is the set of rules for preparing tax returns.Financial statement income tax expense.IRS income taxes payable.GAAP is the set of rules for preparing financial statements.Usually. . . Results in . . .The objective of accounting for income taxes is to recognize a deferred tax liability or deferred tax assetfor the tax consequences of amounts that will become taxable or deductible in future years as a result of transactions or events that already have occurred. Deferred Tax Assets and Deferred Tax LiabilitiesResults in . . .Temporary DifferencesThis results in temporary differences.The difference in the rules for computing between pretax accounting income (according to GAAP) and taxable income (according to the IRS) often causes amounts to be reported in different years.Temporary differences will reverse in one or more future periods.Temporary DifferencesAccounting Income > Taxable IncomeFuture Taxable AmountsDeferred Tax LiabilityAccounting Income < Taxable IncomeFuture Deductible AmountsDeferred Tax AssetTypes of Temporary DifferencesDeferred tax liabilities result in taxable amounts in the future.Deferred tax assets result in deductible amounts in the future.Valuation AllowanceA valuation allowance account is needed if it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized.The deferred tax asset is then reported at its estimated net realizable value.Permanent DifferencesCreated when an income item is included in taxable income or accounting income but will never be included in the computation of the other.Example: Interest on tax-free municipal bonds is included in accounting income but is never included in taxable income.Permanent differences are disregarded when determining both the tax payable currently and the deferred tax asset or liability.U.S. GAAP vs. IFRSFor example, U.S. GAAP requires a loss contingency be accrued if it is both probable and can be reasonably estimated. Accruing a loss contingency leads to a deferred tax asset.For loss contingencies, IFRS uses a “more likely than not” threshold, which is lower than the U.S. “probable” requirement. As a result, under the lower threshold of IFRS, a loss contingency and a deferred tax asset sometimes is recorded for IFRS but not for U.S. GAAP.Despite the similar approaches for accounting for income taxes under IFRS and U.S. GAAP, differences in reported amounts for deferred taxes are among the most frequent between the two reporting approaches. Tax Rate ConsiderationsDeferred tax assets and liabilities should be determined using the future tax rates, if known.The deferred tax asset or liability must be adjusted if a change in a tax law or rate occurs.Multiple Temporary DifferencesIt would be unusual for any but a very small company to have only a single temporary difference in any given year. Categorize all temporary differences according to whether they create Future taxable amountsFuture deductible amountsNet Operating Losses (NOL)Tax laws often allow a company to use tax NOLs to offset taxable income in earlier or subsequent periods.When used to offset earlier taxable income: Called: operating loss carryback. Result: tax refund.When used to offset future taxable income: Called: operating loss carryforward. Result: reduced tax payable.Net Operating Losses (NOL)Current Year-1-2Carryback Period+3+2+1. . .+20+4+5Carryforward PeriodThe NOL may first be applied against taxable income from two previous years. Unused NOL may be carried forward for 20 years. Balance Sheet ClassificationA deferred tax asset that is not related to a specific asset or liability should be classified according to when the underlying temporary difference is expected to reverse. Deferred tax assets/liabilities are classified as current or noncurrent based on the classification of the related asset or liability.Disclosure NotesDeferred Tax Assets and Deferred Tax LiabilitiesTotal of all deferred tax liabilities. Total of all deferred tax assets.Total valuation allowance recognized.Net change in valuation account.Approximate tax effect of each type of temporary difference (and carryforward).Operating Loss CarryforwardsAmounts. Expiration dates.Income Tax ExpenseCurrent portion of the tax expense (or benefit).Deferred portion of the tax expense (or benefit) with separate disclosures of amounts attributable to several specific items.Coping with Uncertainty in Income TaxesTwo-step Decision ProcessStep 1. A tax benefit may be reflected in the financial statements only if it is “more likely than not” that the company will be able to sustain the tax return position, based on its technical merits.Step 2. A tax benefit should be measured as the largest amount of benefit that is cumulatively greater than 50 percent likely to be realized. If the tax benefit is not “more likely than not,” then none of the tax benefit is allowed to be recorded.Intraperiod Tax AllocationIncome Statement:Income from continuing operations.Discontinued operations.Extraordinary items.Other Comprehensive Income:Investments. Postretirement benefit plans.Derivatives.Foreign currency translation.U.S. GAAP vs. IFRSGAAP separately reports both discontinued operations and extraordinary items on the income statement and each are shown net of tax.IFRS does not separately report extraordinary items on the income statement. As a result, the only income statement item reported separately net of tax using IFRS is discontinued operations.The approach for accounting for intraperiod tax allocation is the same under IFRS and U.S. GAAP, but the categories used on the income statement are different. End of Chapter 16