On 7 May 2021, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published Amendments to IAS 12 Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction that clarify how companies account for deferred tax on transactions such as leases and decommissioning obligations.
Background
IAS 12 Income Taxes specifies how a company accounts for income tax, including deferred tax, which represents tax payable or recoverable in the future.
For some transactions, IFRS Standards require the simultaneous recognition of an asset and a liability. A consequence is that IAS 12 could also require the recognition of offsetting temporary differences. Before the amendments, it was not clear whether IAS 12 required recognition of deferred taxes for these temporary differences or whether the initial recognition exemption applied. That exemption prohibits an entity from recognising deferred tax assets and liabilities on initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction which is not a business combination and affects neither accounting nor taxable profit.
Changes
The IASB amends IAS 12 to provide a further exception from the initial recognition exemption. Under the amendments, an entity does not apply the initial recognition exemption for transactions that give rise to equal taxable and deductible temporary differences.
Depending on the applicable tax law, equal taxable and deductible temporary differences may arise on initial recognition of an asset and liability in a transaction that is not a business combination and affects neither accounting nor taxable profit. For example, this may arise upon recognition of a lease liability and the corresponding right-of-use asset applying IFRS 16 Leases at the commencement date of a lease.
Following the amendments to IAS 12, an entity is required to recognise the related deferred tax asset and liability, with the recognition of any deferred tax asset being subject to the recoverability criteria in IAS 12.
The IASB also adds an illustrative example to IAS 12 that explains how the amendments are applied.
Effective date and transition
The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023. Early adoption is permitted.
An entity applies the amendments to transactions that occur on or after the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. It also, at the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented, recognises deferred tax for all temporary differences related to leases and decommissioning obligations and recognises the cumulative effect of initially applying the amendments as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings (or other component of equity, as appropriate) at that date.
Sources: www.iasplus.com, IFRS in Focus from May 2021
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