Fiscal Estimated Values as Additional Information for Business Decisions? An Evaluation of IFRS Conclusions of the German Dax-30 and of the Oesterreichischen ATX ECC Enterprises (Steuerliche Wertansaetze als zusaetzliche Information fuer unternehmerische Entscheidungen? Eine Auswertung von IFRS-Abschluessen der Deutschen Dax-30- und der oesterreichischen ATX-Unternehmen)

Although tax values of corporate assets and liabilities can be relevant for economic decisions, they are typically unknown to financial statement users. Tax values permit to conduct empirical studies about exercise of IFRS and tax options. Furthermore, the level of tax loss carryforwards and tax credits is essential for the valuation of a company. Tax values can serve as additional criteria in the analysis and assessment of a company. For instance, they can be used as a benchmark for assessing the earnings quality of financial statements or they can help to improve forecasts of companies' future earnings. As long as financial statements were based on national Austrian and German GAAP, financial statement users were not provided with information about tax values of corporate assets and liabilities. In contrast, IFRS-based financial statements provide extensive information concerning deferred taxes (IAS 12), which can be used for empirical analyses and for detailed derivations of corporate tax values. This paper suggests an approximation of tax values. The approach is especially based on segment reporting in accordance with IAS 14, published lists of subsidiaries and statement of deferred taxes according to IAS 12.81 lit g. Analyses of German DAX30 and Austrian ATX listed companies indicate that tax values of provisions for uncertain liabilities, especially liabilities for pensions, are usually lower than IFRS book values. This result is of particular importance for business valuation. If a company is valued based on IFRS book values of provisions, tax shields will be overestimated. The study also shows the quality of estimated tax loss carryforwards, which typically do not differ significantly from the actual total stock of tax loss carryforwards