Unrecognized tax benefit: methodological peculiarities of creation of reserve and influence of tax positions on occurrence of deferred taxes

Abstract

The paper characterizes the methodological features of recognition and assessment of unrecognized tax benefits from the position of the rules of American standards. The general principle of recording contingent liabilities arising from uncertainty in income tax in the accounting accounts is established. The affirmative and impairment approaches are clarified as they apply to accounting for the effect of tax positions on an entity’s financial position. It is determined that the key disadvantage of the affirmative approach is the lack of possibility to register the tax asset in the accounting in case the tax position recognition threshold is not reached. The peculiarities of deferred tax accounting for certain tax positions are specified. We argue the necessity of disclosure of information about unrecognized tax benefits in the notes to the financial statements. The following are highlighted as promising areas for future research: a comparative analysis of accounting for unrecognized tax benefits under U.S. and international standards; a rationale for the acceptability of the impairment approach; and characterization of the benefits of reconciliation with the tax authority for unrecognized tax positions.