ACCA FR考点：递延税会计处理

Deferred tax

Deferred tax is a topic that is consistently tested in Financial Reporting(FR)and is often tested in further detail in Strategic Business Reporting(SBR).This article will start by considering aspects of deferred tax that are relevant to FR before moving on to the more complicated situations that may be tested in SBR.

The basics

Deferred tax is accounted for in accordance with IAS®12,Income Taxes.In FR,deferred tax normally results in a liability being recognised within the Statement of Financial Position.IAS 12 defines a deferred tax liability as being the amount of income tax payable in future periods in respect of taxable temporary differences.So,in simple terms,deferred tax is tax that is payable in the future.However,to understand this definition more fully,it is necessary to explain the term‘taxable temporary differences’.

Temporary differences are defined as being differences between the carrying amount of an asset(or liability)within the Statement of Financial Position and its tax base ie the amount at which the asset(or liability)is valued for tax purposes by the relevant tax authority.

Taxable temporary differences are those on which tax will be charged in the future when the asset(or liability)is recovered(or settled).

IAS 12 requires that a deferred tax liability is recorded in respect of all taxable temporary differences that exist at the year-end–this is sometimes known as the full provision method.

All of this terminology can be rather overwhelming and difficult to understand,so consider it alongside an example.Depreciable non-current assets are the typical deferred tax example used in FR.

Within financial statements,non-current assets with a limited useful life are subject to depreciation.However,within tax computations,non-current assets are subject to capital allowances(also known as tax depreciation)at rates set within the relevant tax legislation.Where at the year-end the cumulative depreciation charged and the cumulative capital allowances claimed are different,the carrying amount of the asset(cost less accumulated depreciation)will then be different to its tax base(cost less accumulated capital allowances)and hence a taxable temporary difference arises.

EXAMPLE 1

A non-current asset costing$2,000 was acquired at the start of year 1.It is being depreciated straight line over four years,resulting in annual depreciation charges of$500.Thus a total of$2,000 of depreciation is being charged.The capital allowances granted on this asset are:

Table 1 shows the carrying amount of the asset,the tax base of the asset and therefore the temporary difference at the end of each year.

As stated above,deferred tax liabilities arise on taxable temporary differences,ie those temporary differences that result in tax being payable in the future as the temporary difference reverses.So,how does the above example result in tax being payable in the future?

Entities pay income tax on their taxable profits.When determining taxable profits,the tax authorities start by taking the profit before tax(accounting profits)of an entity from their financial statements and then make various adjustments.For example,depreciation is considered a disallowable expense for taxation purposes but instead tax relief on capital expenditure is granted in the form of capital allowances.Therefore,taxable profits are arrived at by adding back depreciation and deducting capital allowances from the accounting profits.Entities are then charged tax at the appropriate tax rate on these taxable profits.【点击免费下载>>>更多ACCA学习相关资料】

Table 1 shows the carrying amount of the asset,the tax base of the asset and therefore the temporary difference at the end of each year.

As stated above,deferred tax liabilities arise on taxable temporary differences,ie those temporary differences that result in tax being payable in the future as the temporary difference reverses.So,how does the above example result in tax being payable in the future?

Entities pay income tax on their taxable profits.When determining taxable profits,the tax authorities start by taking the profit before tax(accounting profits)of an entity from their financial statements and then make various adjustments.For example,depreciation is considered a disallowable expense for taxation purposes but instead tax relief on capital expenditure is granted in the form of capital allowances.Therefore,taxable profits are arrived at by adding back depreciation and deducting capital allowances from the accounting profits.Entities are then charged tax at the appropriate tax rate on these taxable profits.

In the above example,when the capital allowances are greater than the depreciation expense in years 1 and 2,the entity has received tax relief early.This is good for cash flow in that it delays(ie defers)the payment of tax.However,the difference is only a temporary difference and so the tax will have to be paid in the future.In years 3 and 4,when the capital allowances for the year are less than the depreciation charged,the entity is being charged additional tax and the temporary difference is reversing.Hence the temporary differences can be said to be taxable temporary differences.

Notice that overall,the accumulated depreciation and accumulated capital allowances both equal$2,000–the cost of the asset–so over the four-year period,there is no difference between the taxable profits and the profits per the financial statements.

At the end of year 1,the entity has a temporary difference of$300,which will result in tax being payable in the future(in years 3 and 4).In accordance with the concept of prudence,a liability is therefore recorded equal to the expected tax payable.

Assuming that the tax rate applicable to the company is 25%,the deferred tax liability that will be recognised at the end of year 1 is 25%x$300=$75.This will be recorded by crediting(increasing)a deferred tax liability in the Statement of Financial Position and debiting(increasing)the tax expense in the Statement of Profit or Loss.

By the end of year 2,the entity has a taxable temporary difference of$400,ie the$300 bought forward from year 1,plus the additional difference of$100 arising in year 2.A liability is therefore now recorded equal to 25%x$400=$100.Since there was a liability of$75 recorded at the end of year 1,the double entry that is recorded in year 2 is to credit(increase)the liability and debit(increase)the tax expense by$25.

At the end of year 3,the entity’s taxable temporary differences have decreased to$260(since the company has now been charged tax on the difference of$140).Therefore in the future,the tax payable will be 25%x$260=$65.The deferred tax liability now needs reducing from$100 to$65 and so is debited(a decrease)by$35.Consequently,there is now a credit(a decrease)to the tax expense of$35.

At the end of year 4,there are no taxable temporary differences since now the carrying amount of the asset is equal to its tax base.Therefore the opening liability of$65 needs to be removed by a debit entry(a decrease)and hence there is a credit entry(a decrease)of$65 to the tax expense.This can all be summarised in the following working.

The movements in the liability are recorded in the Statement of Profit or Loss as part of the taxation charge

The closing figures are reported in the Statement of Financial Position as part of the deferred tax liability.

Proforma

Example 1 provides a proforma,which may be a useful format to deal with deferred tax within a published financial statements question.The movement in the deferred tax liability in the year is recorded in the Statement of Profit or Loss where:

an increase in the liability,increases the tax expense

a decrease in the liability,decreases the tax expense.

The closing figures are reported in the Statement of Financial Position as the deferred tax liability.

The Statement of Profit or Loss

As IAS 12 considers deferred tax from the perspective of temporary differences between the carrying amount and tax base of assets and liabilities,the standard can be said to take a‘balance sheet approach’.However,it will be helpful to consider the effect on the Statement of Profit or Loss.

Continuing with the previous example,suppose that the profit before tax of the entity for each of years 1 to 4 is$10,000(after charging depreciation).Since the tax rate is 25%,it would then be logical to expect the tax expense for each year to be$2,500.However,income tax is based on taxable profits not on the accounting profits.

The taxable profits and so the actual tax liability for each year could be calculated as in Table 2.

The income tax liability is then recorded as a tax expense.As we have seen in the example,accounting for deferred tax then results in a further increase or decrease in the tax expense.Therefore,the final tax expense for each year reported in the Statement of Profit or Loss would be as in Table 3.

It can therefore be said that accounting for deferred tax is ensuring that the matching principle is applied.The tax expense reported in each period is the tax consequences(ie tax charges less tax relief)of the items reported within profit in that period.

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