세무상 이월결손금과 이익조정에 관한 연구 (A Study on the Tax NOL Carryforwards and Earnings Management)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국회계학회
· 수록지 정보 : 회계학연구 / 33권 / 4호 / 33 ~ 75페이지
· 저자명 : 전규안, 박종일

초록

본 연구는 세무상 이월결손금이 있는 기업들의 이익조정 행태를 알아보았다. 세무상 이월결손금이 있는 기업은 조세비용에 대한 부담이 적으므로 보고이익을 증가시켜 보고할 유인이 존재한다. 또한 세무상 이월결손금이 있는 기업은 과세표준 계산시 각사업연도소득금액에서 이월결손금을 공제한 후에도 여전히 공제받지 못한 이월결손금이 남아 있을 경우 이에 대해 미래 과세소득의 발생이 예상되면 이연법인세자산을 인식함으로써 당기의 법인세비용을 감소시킬 수 있다. 이러한 기업은 이월결손금의 법인세효과를 이연법인세자산으로 인식함으로써 보고이익을 조정할 여지가 존재할 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 이러한 이월결손금과 관련된 여러 가지 실증적 의문사항에 관해 실증분석을 하였다. 본 연구의 분석기간은 1999년부터 2002년까지이다.
본 연구의 분석결과는 다음과 같이 요약될 수 있다. 첫째, 과세표준 계산시 세무상 이월결손금을 공제받은 기업은 그렇지 않은 기업에 비하여 이익을 상향조정하는 것으로 나타났으며, 또한 공제받은 세무상 이월결손금의 금액이 클수록 보고이익을 더 상향조정하는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 세무상 이월결손금이 있는 기업이 이월결손금으로 인한 법인세효과를 이연법인세자산으로 인식한 기업과 그렇지 않은 기업 사이의 이익조정 행위에는 별다른 차이가 없었다. 셋째, 이월결손금으로 인한 법인세효과를 이연법인세자산으로 인식한 기업들은 그렇지 않은 기업들보다 이익의 지속성이 더 높게 나타났다.
본 연구는 이월결손금 관련 기업의 이익조정에 관한 사항을 체계적으로 알아보았다는 점에서 의의가 있다. 특히 세무상 이월결손금이 있는 기업은 보고이익을 상향조정한다는 실증적 증거를 보여주었다. 또한 본 연구는 이월결손금의 법인세효과와 관련해서 현행 기업회계기준서에 경영자의 주관적인 판단이 부여되었음에도 불구하고 자본시장의 투자자들의 일반적인 인식과는 달리 경영자는 이러한 규정을 이용하여 기업의 보고이익을 증가시키는 방향으로 이익조정을 수행하지는 않는다는 실증연구결과를 제시하고 있다.

영어초록

This paper investigates the relation between tax net operating loss(here after, ‘tax NOL’) carryforwards and earnings management. Tax NOL means amount of deficits carried forward for the previous 5 years which were not previously deducted or were not previously carried back.
The basis for corporation tax on the income of a domestic corporation for each business year shall be the income for each business year remaining after the successive deductions of tax NOL, non-taxable income in accordance with the Corporation Tax Law and other relevant laws, and deductible income in accordance with the Corporation Tax Law and other related laws.
We focus on tax NOL carryforwards and earnings management. Tax NOL carryforwards is related to tax costs and earnings management is related to nontax costs. The firms with tax NOL are inclined to increase financial book income because the basis for corporation tax is low if they deduct tax NOL carryforwards(i.e. low tax costs). Generally, firms want to decrease both tax costs and nontax costs(i.e. firms want to minimize all costs) and do effective tax planning(Scholes et al. 2008). Because of trade-off tax costs and nontax costs, firms don’t decrease both tax costs and nontax costs. But the firms with tax NOL have incentive to increase financial reporting income and decrease taxable income(i.e., tax costs), because they don’t have or a little trade-off tax costs and nontax costs.
The firms with tax NOL can decrease current tax expense by recording deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards and decreased current tax expense can result in increasing net income. Because current tax expense is one of the last accounts closed prior to earnings announcements, earnings management by current tax expense(i.e. deferred tax assets) are the last-chance earning managements.
Firms have to record deferred tax liabilities and don’t consider realizability of deferred tax liabilities. But when firms record deferred tax assets, they consider the realizability of deferred tax assets. The realizability of deferred tax assets is not easy to estimate and we think that management has discretion whether they recognize deferred tax assets. Tax NOL carryforwards is one of the items for recognizing deferred tax assets.
The sample consists of non-banking firms (1,792 firm-years) with a December fiscal year-end listed on the Korean Stock Exchange over 1999-2002. The data on tax NOL is collected from the DART(Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System) of Financial Supervisory Service. Other firm-specific financial data is collected from KIS-FAS and TS2000 database.
Empirical results are as follows. We provide robust evidence that the firms with deductions of tax NOL increase financial income than the other firms and the more deductions of tax NOL the more increasing financial income. We also find that the firms with deferred tax assets from NOL carryforwards are similar to the firms without deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards in earnings managements among the firms with tax NOL. Finally, the firms with deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards are more persistent earnings than the other firms.
Empirical results suggest that the firms with deductions of tax NOL tend to increase financial income than the other firms. These firms are lower tax costs and don’t have or a little trade-off tax costs and nontax costs. This result implies that management tend to manage earnings when firms have tax NOL and financial statements users keep a very close watch the firms that have tax NOL. The management has discretion whether they record deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards. But empirical results suggest that management don’t manage earnings by recognizing deferred tax assets. This implies that management don’t intend to manage earnings using discretion of judgement on the realizability of deferred tax assets. The earnings persistence of firms with deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards is higher than the other firms. This implies that the quality of earnings of firms with deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards is better than firms without deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards. This means that the quality of earnings of firms with deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards is better because the judgement on the realizability of deferred tax assets of firms with deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards is adequate or firms don’t manage earnings by recognizing deferred tax assets. Previous studies focused on market reaction on the realizability of deferred tax assets, but this study examines the relation between judgement on the realizability of deferred tax assets and earnings management(i.e. focus on not shareholders but managers).
Our findings contribute to the evidence that the firms with deductions of tax NOL manage earnings to increase financial net income, and don’t manage earnings using deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards, and firms with deferred tax assets from tax NOL carryforwards are better earnings persistence(i.e. better quality of earnings). Our results are based on hand-collected data in DART. Evidences of this study are useful to financial statements users and policymakers because tax NOL carryforwards has been used for earnings management.

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