Session 9: Financial Reporting and Analysis: Inventories, Long-lived Assets, Income Taxes, and Non-current Liabilities Reading 38: Income Taxes
LOS g: Discuss the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets—when it is required and what impact it has on financial statements.
Which of the following situations will most likely require a company to record a valuation allowance on its balance sheet?
A) |
A firm is unlikely to have future taxable income that would enable it to take advantage of deferred tax assets. | |
B) |
To report depreciation, a firm uses the double-declining balance method for tax purposes and the straight-line method for financial reporting purposes. | |
C) |
A firm has differences between taxable and pretax income that are never expected to reverse. | |
A valuation allowance is a contra account (offset) against deferred tax assets that reflects the likelihood that the deferred tax assets will never be realized. If a firm is unlikely to have future taxable income, it would be unlikely to ever use its deferred tax assets, and therefore must record a valuation allowance. |