IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/arqudp/216.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The information content of tax loss carryforwards: IAS 12 vs. valuation allowance

Author

Listed:
  • Flagmeier, Vanessa

Abstract

This is the first study that analyzes the predictive ability of deferred tax information under IFRS. I examine whether deferred taxes provide information about future tax payments and future performance, using a German sample of IFRS firms. The focus on tax loss carryforwards enables a separation of the two relations, testing on the one hand, the relation between recognized deferred tax assets and future tax payments and on the other hand, the relation between the non-usable part of tax losses and future earnings. I find significantly negative coefficients for both deferred tax items, indicating that higher recognized deferred tax assets are associated with lower future tax payments and higher non-usable tax loss carryforwards with lower future performance. Additionally, I compare the tax accounts' predictive ability for a matched German and US sample and find no significant differences between firms reporting under IFRS and US-GAAP. Taken together, the evidence suggests that deferred tax items for tax loss carryforwards reported under IFRS provide useful information about future outcomes and that this predictive ability does not differ significantly from firms reporting under US-GAAP.

Suggested Citation

  • Flagmeier, Vanessa, 2017. "The information content of tax loss carryforwards: IAS 12 vs. valuation allowance," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 216, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:arqudp:216
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/157656/1/885544099.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Choudhary, Preeti, 2011. "Evidence on differences between recognition and disclosure: A comparison of inputs to estimate fair values of employee stock options," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 77-94, February.
    2. Thompson, Samuel B., 2011. "Simple formulas for standard errors that cluster by both firm and time," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Obrien, Pc & Bhushan, R, 1990. "Analyst Following And Institutional Ownership," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28, pages 55-76.
    4. Mei Cheng & K. R. Subramanyam, 2008. "Analyst Following and Credit Ratings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 1007-1044, December.
    5. Choudhary, Preeti, 2011. "Evidence on differences between recognition and disclosure: A comparison of inputs to estimate fair values of employee stock options," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 77-94.
    6. Kathleen Herbohn & Irene Tutticci & Pui See Khor, 2010. "Changes in Unrecognised Deferred Tax Accruals from Carry‐Forward Losses: Earnings Management or Signalling?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7‐8), pages 763-791, July.
    7. Graham, John R. & Raedy, Jana S. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 2012. "Research in accounting for income taxes," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 412-434.
    8. Erlend Kvaal & Christopher Nobes, 2010. "International differences in IFRS policy choice: A research note," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 173-187.
    9. Jacob, Martin & Schütt, Harm, 2013. "Firm valuation and the uncertainty of future tax avoidance," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 149, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    10. Paquita Y. Davis†Friday & Chao†Shin Liu & H. Fred Mittelstaedt, 2004. "Recognition and Disclosure Reliability: Evidence from SFAS No. 106," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 399-429, June.
    11. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    12. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    13. Eli Amir & Michael Kirschenheiter & Kristen Willard, 1997. "The Valuation of Deferred Taxes," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 597-622, December.
    14. Hanlon, Michelle, 2003. "What Can We Infer About a Firm’s Taxable Income From Its Financial Statements?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 56(4), pages 831-863, December.
    15. Eli Amir & Theodore Sougiannis, 1999. "Analysts' Interpretation and Investors' Valuation of Tax Carryforwards," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(1), pages 1-33, March.
    16. Erlend Kvaal & Christopher Nobes, 2012. "IFRS Policy Changes and the Continuation of National Patterns of IFRS Practice," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 343-371, August.
    17. Dan S. Dhaliwal & Steven E. Kaplan & Rick C. Laux & Eric Weisbrod, 2013. "The Information Content of Tax Expense for Firms Reporting Losses," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 135-164, March.
    18. Amir, E. & Kirschenheiter, M. & Willard, K., 1997. "Firm Valuation with Deferred Taxes: A Theoretical Framework," Papers 97-13, Columbia - Graduate School of Business.
    19. Cheryl Chang & Kathleen Herbohn & Irene Tutticci, 2009. "Market's perception of deferred tax accruals," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(4), pages 645-673, December.
    20. Kathleen Herbohn & Irene Tutticci & Pui See Khor, 2010. "Changes in Unrecognised Deferred Tax Accruals from Carry-Forward Losses: Earnings Management or Signalling?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(7-8), pages 763-791.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dreher, Sandra & Eichfelder, Sebastian & Noth, Felix, 2017. "Predicting earnings and cash flows: The information content of losses and tax loss carryforwards," IWH Discussion Papers 30/2017, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

    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. Anna Görlitz & Michael Dobler, 2023. "Financial accounting for deferred taxes: a systematic review of empirical evidence," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(1), pages 113-165, February.
    2. Kim Mear & Michael Bradbury & Jill Hooks, 2021. "The ability of deferred tax to predict future tax," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(1), pages 241-264, March.
    3. Dan S. Dhaliwal & Steven E. Kaplan & Rick C. Laux & Eric Weisbrod, 2013. "The Information Content of Tax Expense for Firms Reporting Losses," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 135-164, March.
    4. Flagmeier, Vanessa & Müller, Jens, 2016. "Tax loss carryforward disclosure and uncertainty," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 208, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    5. Dreher, Sandra & Eichfelder, Sebastian & Noth, Felix, 2017. "Predicting earnings and cash flows: The information content of losses and tax loss carryforwards," IWH Discussion Papers 30/2017, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    6. Bradley Blaylock & Bradley P. Lawson & Michael A. Mayberry, 2020. "Taxable income, future profitability, and stock returns," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 858-881, July.
    7. Abdul Wahab, Nor Shaipah & Holland, Kevin, 2012. "Tax planning, corporate governance and equity value," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 111-124.
    8. Flagmeier, Vanessa & Müller, Jens & Sureth-Sloane, Caren, 2017. "When do managers highlight their effective tax rate?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 214, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    9. Arjan Brouwer & Ewout Naarding, 2018. "Making Deferred Taxes Relevant," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 200-230, May.
    10. Guanming He & Helen Mengbing Ren & Richard Taffler, 2020. "The impact of corporate tax avoidance on analyst coverage and forecasts," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 447-477, February.
    11. Wessel M. Badenhorst & Petri H. Ferreira, 2016. "The Financial Crisis and the Value-relevance of Recognised Deferred Tax Assets," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 26(3), pages 291-300, September.
    12. Frey, Lisa & Engelhard, Lisa, 2017. "Review on tax research in accounting: Is the information given by U.S. GAAP income taxes also provided by IFRS?," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Betriebswirtschaftliche Reihe B-28-17, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    13. Alexander Merz, 2020. "Expensing performance-vested executive stock options: is there underreporting under IFRS 2?," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(3), pages 461-493, April.
    14. Elkins, Hamilton & Entwistle, Gary, 2018. "A commentary on accounting standards and the disclosure problem: Exploring a way forward," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 79-89.
    15. ElBannan, Mona A., 2017. "Stock market liquidity, family ownership, and capital structure choices in an emerging country," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 201-231.
    16. Ryan Flugum & Matthew E. Souther, 2020. "External monitoring and returns to hedge fund activist campaigns," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 97-140, January.
    17. Dreher, Sandra & Eichfelder, Sebastian & Noth, Felix, 2022. "Does IFRS information on tax loss carryforwards and negative performance improve predictions of earnings and cash flows?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 276, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    18. Yiwei Dou & M. H. Franco Wong & Baohua Xin, 2019. "The Effect of Financial Reporting Quality on Corporate Investment Efficiency: Evidence from the Adoption of SFAS No. 123R," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(5), pages 2249-2266, May.
    19. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    20. Fabisik, Kornelia & Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger & Stulz, René M. & Taillard, Jérôme P., 2021. "Why are firms with more managerial ownership worth less?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(3), pages 699-725.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    deferred taxes; IAS 12; valuation allowance; tax loss carryforwards; tax footnote;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:zbw:arqudp:216. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.arqus.info/ .

    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.