IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/euract/v23y2014i1p117-141.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Challenge of Assessing the Market Value of Private Companies Using a Standardised Combination Method for Tax Purposes - Lessons to be Learnt from Past Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Jens M�ller

Abstract

When taxes on capital or wealth are levied, in most countries companies have to be assessed in terms of their market value (MV). Estimating the MV of private companies for tax purposes is a challenging task for tax authorities as MVs are not available. In this study, I empirically analyse to what extent an accounting-based tax valuation method for private companies, a simplified residual income model, succeeds in matching the MV. I refer to the mandatory Standardised Combination Model that is a special case of methods commonly used in several countries. In the absence of market prices for private companies, I use a sample of small German public companies as a proxy. I validate this approach using a sensitivity analysis that involves matching the sample of public companies with that of private companies. The results imply that the mandatory Standardised Combination Model leads to a severe unequal treatment not only between public and private companies but also among private companies across and within industries. Furthermore, I simulate the effects of variation in the key parameters and highlight their impact on the approximation quality of the Standardised Combination Method. The findings are relevant to tax reform discussions as well as to tax policy-makers and practitioners in many countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens M�ller, 2014. "The Challenge of Assessing the Market Value of Private Companies Using a Standardised Combination Method for Tax Purposes - Lessons to be Learnt from Past Experience," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 117-141, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:23:y:2014:i:1:p:117-141
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2012.746528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09638180.2012.746528
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09638180.2012.746528?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Choi, Won W. & Kwon, Sung S. & Lobo, Gerald J., 2000. "Market Valuation of Intangible Assets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 35-45, July.
    2. Harris, Ts & Lang, M & Moller, Hp, 1994. "The Value Relevance Of German Accounting Measures - An Empirical-Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 187-209.
    3. Sanjeev Bhojraj & Charles M. C. Lee, 2002. "Who Is My Peer? A Valuation‐Based Approach to the Selection of Comparable Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 407-439, May.
    4. Stephen H. Penman & Theodore Sougiannis, 1998. "A Comparison of Dividend, Cash Flow, and Earnings Approaches to Equity Valuation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 343-383, September.
    5. Kaplan, Steven N & Ruback, Richard S, 1995. "The Valuation of Cash Flow Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1059-1093, September.
    6. Dechow, Patricia M. & Hutton, Amy P. & Sloan, Richard G., 1999. "An empirical assessment of the residual income valuation model1," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1-3), pages 1-34, January.
    7. Cravens, Karen S. & Oliver, Elizabeth Goad, 2000. "The Influence of Culture on Pension Plans," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 521-537, 010.
    8. Easton, Pd & Harris, Ts, 1991. "Earnings As An Explanatory Variable For Returns," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 19-36.
    9. Frankel, Richard & Lee, Charles M. C., 1998. "Accounting valuation, market expectation, and cross-sectional stock returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 283-319, June.
    10. Lo, Kin, 2003. "Economic consequences of regulated changes in disclosure: the case of executive compensation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 285-314, August.
    11. Dieter Pfaff & Thomas Schroer, 1996. "The relationship between financial and tax accounting in Germany — the authoritativeness and reverse authoritativeness principle," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 963-979.
    12. Feng Chen & Kenton K. Yee & Yong Keun Yoo, 2010. "Robustness of Judicial Decisions to Valuation‐Method Innovation: An Exploratory Empirical Study," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9‐10), pages 1094-1114, November.
    13. Collins, Daniel W. & Maydew, Edward L. & Weiss, Ira S., 1997. "Changes in the value-relevance of earnings and book values over the past forty years," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 39-67, December.
    14. Francis, J & Schipper, K, 1999. "Have financial statements lost their relevance?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 319-352.
    15. Kaplan, Steven N. & Reishus, David, 1990. "Outside directorships and corporate performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 389-410, October.
    16. Yong Keun Yoo, 2006. "The valuation accuracy of equity valuation using a combination of multiples," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 108-123, May.
    17. Eberhartinger, Eva L. E., 1999. "The Impact of Tax Rules on Financial Reporting in Germany, France, and the UK," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 93-119.
    18. Jing Liu & Doron Nissim & Jacob Thomas, 2002. "Equity Valuation Using Multiples," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 135-172, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aharon, David Y. & Gavious, Ilanit & Yosef, Rami, 2010. "Stock market bubble effects on mergers and acquisitions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 456-470, November.
    2. Jens Müller & Caren Sureth, 2011. "Marktnahe Bewertung von Unternehmen nach der Erbschaftsteuerreform?," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 63(63), pages 45-83, January.
    3. Ran Barniv & Mark Myring, 2006. "An International Analysis of Historical and Forecast Earnings in Accounting‐Based Valuation Models," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7‐8), pages 1087-1109, September.
    4. Karel Janda, 2019. "Earnings Stability and Peer Company Selection for Multiple Based Indirect Valuation," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 69(1), pages 37-75, February.
    5. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    6. Dittmann, I. & Maug, E.G., 2006. "Valuation Biases, Error Measures, and the Conglomerate Discount," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2006-011-F&A, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    7. Imam, Shahed & Chan, Jacky & Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali, 2013. "Equity valuation models and target price accuracy in Europe: Evidence from equity reports," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 9-19.
    8. Gordon Richardson & Surjit Tinaikar, 2004. "Accounting based valuation models: what have we learned?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 44(2), pages 223-255, July.
    9. Clout, Victoria J. & Willett, Roger J., 2016. "Earnings in firm valuation and their value relevance," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 223-240.
    10. Georgia Pazarzi, 2014. "Comparison of the Residual Income and the Pricing - Multiples Equity Valuation Models," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(3), pages 88-114.
    11. Waleed Khalid & Kashif Ur Rehman & Muhammad Kashif, 2019. "The Impact of Merger and Acquisition Firms on Stock Market Bubble," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(1), pages 335-342, March.
    12. Bartram, Söhnke M. & Grinblatt, Mark, 2018. "Agnostic fundamental analysis works," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(1), pages 125-147.
    13. Frank Asche & Bård Misund, 2016. "Who’s a major? A novel approach to peer group selection: Empirical evidence from oil and gas companies," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1264538-126, December.
    14. Schaberl, Philipp D., 2016. "Beyond accounting and back: An empirical examination of the relative relevance of earnings and “other” information," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 98-113.
    15. Marc Deloof & Wouter De Maeseneire & Koen Inghelbrecht, 2009. "How Do Investment Banks Value Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1‐2), pages 130-160, January.
    16. Marcel Ausloos, 2020. "Valuation Models Applied to Value-Based Management—Application to the Case of UK Companies with Problems," Forecasting, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-17, December.
    17. Yun Shen & Andrew W. Stark, 2013. "Evaluating the effectiveness of model specifications and estimation approaches for empirical accounting-based valuation models," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(6), pages 660-682, December.
    18. Soenke Sievers & Christopher F. Mokwa & Georg Keienburg, 2012. "The Relevance of Financial versus Non-Financial Information for the Valuation of Venture Capital-Backed Firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 467-511, September.
    19. Hilary, Gilles, 2003. "Accounting behavior of German firms after an ADR issuance," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 355-376.
    20. Gavious, Ilanit & Parmet, Yisrael, 2010. "Do private firm valuations contain incremental information content over routine analyst valuations?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 223-234, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:23:y:2014:i:1:p:117-141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/REAR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.