Tax adjustment item
A tax adjustment item is an (active or passive) equity item in the tax balance sheet, which, due to various legal provisions, is used as an auxiliary or counter-position for balancing balance sheet items if a suitable counter-position is not available or a corresponding position already exists may not be changed.
Examples
Adjustment items for different valuations in the tax balance sheet and commercial balance sheet for corporations
If the tax balance differs from the trade balance, e.g. B. because additional tax capitalizations have been made or write-offs have been changed, this results in additional tax assets (additional profit) in the first year of the deviation, and in subsequent years less assets (lower profit) due to the higher depreciation or the longer depreciation period. These differences can be shown in the capital accounts for individual traders and partnerships. In the case of corporations, however, this is not possible, as the disclosure of equity (nominal capital and reserves) is linked to the commercial balance sheet due to the principle of relevance. The representation takes place here via adjustment items. In the case of excess tax assets, a passive, and in the case of insufficient assets, an active compensation item is created. The adjustment item is to be developed further in the following years with an effect on profits. Was z. If, for example, a passive adjustment item is formed due to additional capitalization, this must be reversed to the extent of the additional depreciation made in the following years. In the case of full depreciation, the adjustment item is omitted entirely. If the trade balance is adjusted to the tax balance, the adjustment item is also omitted, since the corresponding effects are then already shown in the trade balance, i.e. there is no longer any deviation between the tax balance and the trade balance.
If a separate tax balance sheet is drawn up, such adjustment items are only to be used for differences within the balance sheet (e.g. depreciation, provisions for potential losses). It is not to be created due to off-balance sheet changes (e.g. according to § 4 Paragraph 5 EStG, § 8b KStG, hidden profit distributions ), which have to be declared separately.
The creation of adjustment items can be dispensed with if, instead of a tax balance sheet, a reconciliation is carried out to adjust the annual surplus under commercial law in accordance with tax regulations ( Section 60 (2) sentence 1 EStDV).
Adjustment items in the auditor's balance sheet of corporations
If an external audit of a corporation determines excess or lower profits, the annual surplus or the appropriation of profits already determined in the commercial balance sheet may no longer be changed, as the external audit only relates to the tax balance sheet, which takes on the equity structure due to the relevance of the commercial balance sheet for the tax balance sheet. With the help of an adjustment item, the changed equity is therefore shown without changing the equity under commercial law. If the trade balance is corrected after the check, this adjustment item can be omitted. Otherwise it is automatically omitted in the currently open year by adjusting the test result in the trade balance sheet.
Adjustment item according to § 4g EStG
By transferring business assets to another EU country, the hidden reserves are tax-denied and thus exposed according to Section 4 (1) sentence 3 EStG. In order to stretch taxation at least over time, a tax adjustment item in the amount of the hidden reserves can be created according to § 4g EStG, which is then to be released in the year of formation and the following four years.
Adjustment item according to § 14 Abs. 4 KStG
In an income tax Organschaft in height of an excess or short discharging the controlled company to the parent company when organ support is in equity, a tax adjustment items in the amount of the increase or decrease in discharge to form in relation to the participation of the controlling of the nominal capital organ society. At the time of the sale of the stake in the governing body, the adjustment item is to be released to income. The formation is based on the fact that the controlling company has to pay tax on this part in spite of excess or reduced transfer (reduced transfer) or accordingly not (additional transfer). In the case of a lower transfer, the tax compensation item can be interpreted as an increase in the acquisition costs of the controlled company participation as a result of a hidden contribution (the taxed but not paid profit) of the controlling company in the controlling company or, in the case of an excess transfer, as a reduction in the acquisition costs as a result of a hidden contribution repayment.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Frotscher / Maas, Comment KStG / UmwStG
