Purpose

This paper aims to examine the financial statement impact resulting from the tax depreciation on buildings that was reinstated on 25 March 2020 as part of the New Zealand Government’s coronavirus (COVID-19) tax support package. The COVID-19 pandemic and the tax relief created an accounting response to map the environment to accounting reports, reversing previously recognized deferred tax liabilities and increasing reported income as a result.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an exploratory and descriptive study to understand the accounting response and impact on companies’ financial statements following a COVID-19 tax relief to support businesses in a dire financial situation as the effects of COVID-19 took hold.

Findings

First, the accounting response provided the appropriate mapping from the COVID-19 environment to accounting reports. Second, the financial statement impacts are material, especially for companies with extensive holdings of buildings that are held for use. Third, while the accounting relief was immediate, the economic (cash flow) support does not occur until a year later.

Research limitations/implications

The financial statement impacts are based on a subset of NZX 50 companies with the available information at the time of writing. However, they do not compromise the external validity of the findings because the tax depreciation relief applies to other listed companies, unlisted public and private companies, trust, partnerships and individuals.

Practical implications

The New Zealand Government could have been more helpful to businesses by allowing an immediate depreciation deduction in the 2020 year as opposed to implementing it from 2021. Further, it could have legislated a backlog depreciation deduction from 2010 – when the depreciation on buildings was disallowed – to 2020.

Originality/value

This paper documents the evolution of the accounting for deferred taxes when the New Zealand Government withdrew the tax depreciation in 2010, how NZ IAS 12 evolved as a result of that event and now the reversal effect with the reinstatement of the tax depreciation during COVID-19. The paper also blends in the accounting responses and considers whether they are opportunistic or efficient.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 和递延税款冲销

目的

本文旨在检查作为新西兰政府冠状病毒 (COVID-19) 税收支持计划的一部分于 2020 年 3 月 25 日恢复的建筑物的税收折旧对财务报表的影响。COVID-19 大流行和税收减免创造了一种会计反应，将环境映射到会计报告中，从而扭转了先前确认的递延所得税负债并因此增加了报告收入。

设计/方法/方法

这是一项探索性和描述性研究，旨在了解 COVID-19 税收减免后会计反应和对公司财务报表的影响，以支持因 COVID-19 的影响而陷入困境的企业。

发现

首先，会计响应提供了从 COVID-19 环境到会计报告的适当映射。其次，财务报表的影响是重大的，特别是对于持有大量待用建筑物的公司。第三，虽然会计减免是立竿见影的，但经济（现金流）支持要到一年后才会出现。

研究限制/影响

财务报表的影响基于在撰写本文时可用信息的 NZX 50 公司的子集。但是，它们不会损害调查结果的外部有效性，因为税收折旧减免适用于其他上市公司、未上市的上市公司和私营公司、信托、合伙企业和个人。

实际影响

新西兰政府本可以通过允许在 2020 年立即扣除折旧而不是从 2021 年开始对企业提供更多帮助。此外，它本可以立法从 2010 年开始进行积压折旧扣除——当时不允许建筑物折旧——到 2020 年。

原创性/价值

本文记录了新西兰政府在 2010 年取消税收折旧时递延税项会计的演变、新西兰 IAS 12 如何因该事件而演变，以及现在在 COVID-19 期间恢复税收折旧的逆转效应. 该论文还融合了会计反应，并考虑了它们是机会主义的还是有效的。