所得税费用笔记

今天说说关于所得税的理解和一些细节。 1．Income tax expense = Taxes payable + Deferred income tax expense, 这右边第二项正的就是deferred tax liability，负的就是deferred tax asset。这个公式简单理解成所得税费用就包括实际交税(cash item)和应该补交或可以抵扣的那部分税(non-cash item)。这也表明，deferred tax asset/liability这两个科目的产生都是以difference will reverse in future years为前提的。

2．Deferred tax liability之所以产生，是因为今年实际交税少了，以后还是要补的，所以可简单理解成负债。也就是说taxes payable < income tax expense, ie. Taxable income < pretax income. Deferred tax asset相反的产生过程，无需多讲。但它有valuation allowance，也是一个备抵项目，但需要记住的是valuation allowance applies exclusively to deferred tax asset。也是，出于谨慎性原则，对于资产才要备抵一下，负债从来不算这个的。另外，涉及到备抵账户的，往往是管理层操纵业绩的一种手段，这种职业敏感 性是要不断加强的。比如allowance就会增加tax expense, 那相应净利润就会减少。 3．Deferred tax liability/asset的计算：列出两张表，分别based on tax return和financial reporting，然后两相比较，很容易得出。 4．Liability method和Deferred method的最大区别：the treatment of changes in tax rates. The deferred method is unaffected by changes in tax rates while the liability method adjusts deferred assets and liabilities to reflect the new tax rates. 5．Change in tax rates: 在Liability method方法之下，税率变动，账面上的deferred asset/ability也要revalue来反映今后它们reverse的当前价值。假设税率上升，那么deferred liability就会增加今年的income tax expense，这会使得净利润和股东权益都下降；deferred asset的作用刚好相反。由于一般而言，都是deferred liability > deferred asset，所以通常，税率上升的总体结果表现就是cause net income and stockholder’s equity to decline. 6．Deferred tax liability应该被当作一项负债还是权益？这在进行财务分析时尤需分清。In many cases, it may be unlikely that deferred tax liabilities will be paid. For example, if a company has deferred tax liabilities occurring, solely because of the use of accelerated depreciation for tax purposes and the company’s capital expenditures are expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future, the deferred tax liability will not reverse and should be considered as equity. However, if growth is expected to stop or slow considerably, the liability will reverse and it should be considered as a true liability. 也就是说，关键在于看这个递延负债究竟有无可能reverse！如果它将无限期的递延下去，那么把它看作权益更加合适。每每看到类似跟财务分析直接相关的 小细节，还是由衷的开心，难说以后哪天就在研究报告中show一下呢，不过需要先确认一下国内是否也是如此操作呵。原来，学习会计也是有乐趣的，我的问题 就是本科的那帮老师，以至于让我对专业完全丧失了兴趣。我无意说出任何刻薄的话，但是真的觉得为人师如此，无论是学识还是做人，都是应该惭愧的。当然，我 自己也应该惭愧，算了算了，现在辛苦些重新学起吧，今年把CPA的会计也报了，融会贯通加深印象。扯远了，还是回到上面这个问题。有时，如果这个non- reversal是可以肯定的话，那索性就把deferred tax liability记入stockholders’ equity，这样做的后果就是debt-to-equity ratio减小，有时这个减幅还是挺大的呢。Sometimes, instead of reclassifying deferred liabilities as stockholders’ equity, the analyst might just ignore deferred taxes altogether. This is done if non-reversal is uncertain or financial statement depreciation is deemed inadequate and it is therefore difficult to justify an increase in stockholders’ equity. Some creditors, notably banks, simply ignore deferred taxes. 所以说，在这个问题上，分析师必需case-by-case。 7．Temporary difference: The differences between tax and financial reporting that will reverse in the future and will affect taxable income when they reverse。比如两种记账分别采用不同的折旧计提方法，但这两者的差别会随着该资产的消亡而消失。(Each individual depreciation for an existing asset will reverse over the course of the life of that asset, that is why it is considered a temporary difference and creates a deferred tax liability.) 假设交税是以DDB计提方法，报表是以直线计提法，如果公司快速发展，不断购买新的固定资产，那么这两者的差距就会一直延续下去，而deferred tas/liability的reversal也将被无限推迟。 Permanent difference: the differences between tax and financial reporting that are not expected to reverse in the future. 比如warranty expenses, tax-loss carry forwards. 永久性差异无所谓推迟了，压根不会reverse的。 如果光是永久性差异的话，tax expense就是tax payable, 两者之所以有差别，都是因为暂时性差异。因此也看出，deferred asset/liability都只跟暂时性差异有关。 8． 递延税款分析时最好用计算PV: 即便deferred asset/liability已经确定会reverse, because the payments may occur far into the future, an analyst should revalue the liability or asset at its present value. The difference between the stated value and the present value of deferred taxes should be treated as equity. 最后这句话尤为希奇，记一下。 9．Indefinite Reversals: 有时候difference究竟会不会reverse不那么容易确定。The most common of these differences is the undistributed earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries or joint ventures. If income is earned but not distributed back to the parent company in the form of dividends, the income will be reflected on the income statement as pretax income but will not appear on the tax return. The parent may consider this income to be permanently reinvested in the subsidiary. In that case, the difference will never be reversed. The company can treat this difference as permanent if the parent controls the subsidiary or joint venture. 有关合并报表的东西，以后再研究吧。