Consider immediate action to adopt LIFO to expense high inflation: PwC

Lawmakers who want to raise revenue in order to lower marginal tax rateThe marginal tax rate is the amount of additional tax paid for every additional dollar earned as income. A 10 percent marginal tax rate means that 10 cents of every next dollar earned would be taken as tax. S should be careful not to distort and exaggerate taxable income in the process, and should focus on more efficient sources of revenue. If inflation were nonexistent, then all three of the inventory valuation methods would produce the same exact results. When prices are stable, our bakery example from earlier would be able to produce all of its bread loaves at $1, and LIFO, FIFO, and average cost would give us a cost of $1 per loaf. However, in the real world, prices tend to rise over the long term, which means that the choice of accounting method can affect the inventory valuation and profitability for the period.

Because pretax earnings exclude taxes, this measure enables the intrinsic profitability of companies to be compared across industries or geographic regions where corporate taxes differ. For instance, while U.S.-based corporations face the same tax rates at the federal level, they face different tax rates at the state level. For some issues, companies can use one set of rules to calculate financial income and another set of rules to calculate taxable incomeTaxable income is the amount of income subject to tax, after deductions and exemptions. For both individuals and corporations, taxable income differs from—and is less than—gross income.

Pretax Earnings Vs. Taxable Income

—which also makes sense, as they measure different things.[5] But in the case of LIFO and FIFO, both systems are, at least on paper, based on the book income approach. Both systems have https://www.bookstime.com/ companies deduct the cost of a unit of inventory when it is sold, not when it is acquired. Additionally, companies must use the same system for both financial and taxable income.

The use of LIFO when prices rise results in a lower taxable income because the last inventory purchased had a higher price and results in a larger deduction. Conversely, the use of FIFO when prices increase results in a higher taxable income because the first inventory purchased will have the lowest price. If prices were falling, LIFO would result in the highest taxable income, FIFO the lowest. To illustrate this, suppose a business purchases three units of inventory throughout the year at three different prices ($30, $31, and $32).

The Two Philosophies of Taxes and Income

In their view, LIFO is “the equivalent of a deduction for a cost that is never incurred” because of the tax deferral it represents. According to Joint Committee on Taxation, the cost of the LIFO tax break is about $5 billion in 2013, which we estimate at $60 to $65 billion over a decade. Most (85 to 90 percent) of the value of LIFO accrues to C-Corporations paying the corporate income tax, while the remainder accrues to pass-through entities which pay through the individual tax.

• By comparison, LIFO rules would allow the company to subtract last year’s cost of about $90 and pay taxes on only $10 of profit – allowing a 90 percent reduction in the company’s tax burden.
• Because the transition from LIFO to FIFO would lead to the reclassification of current inventory, the revenue raised from repealing LIFO would be more than the value of the tax expenditure in the short run.
• The idea of adding back the LIFO reserves does not work because it is the cumulative impact of the difference in the two methods since LIFO was adopted.
• Disclosure of the LIFO reserve equips analysts with the information needed to adjust a company’s cost of sales (or cost of goods sold) and ending inventory balance to the FIFO method based on the LIFO method.
• Companies that are not using LIFO should consider adopting the LIFO method for their inventory to reduce taxable income and their cash tax outlay.
• Repealing LIFO treatment of inventory would generate relatively little revenue for its economic costs.

Under the LIFO conformity rule, a taxpayer that uses LIFO for tax purposes must use LIFO in computing book income. Accordingly, financial statements issued to shareholders, creditors, or other parties must reflect income based on inventory computed under the LIFO method. The tax treatment of inventories may be an obscure policy, but it is still significant. Repealing Last-In, First-Out accounting appeared in many Obama administration budget proposals and was included in the Dave Camp tax reform package in 2014. Today, thanks to several factors such as rising inflation, high deficits, supply chain issues, and industry-specific concerns, LIFO has re-entered the policy discussion.

AccountingTools

Logistically, that grocery store is more likely to try to sell slightly older bananas as opposed to the most recently delivered. Should the company sell the most recent perishable good it receives, the oldest inventory items will likely go bad. No, the LIFO inventory method is not permitted under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Both the LIFO and FIFO methods are permitted under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). As a result, LIFO isn’t practical for many companies that sell perishable goods and doesn’t accurately reflect the logical production process of using the oldest inventory first. For example, a company that sells seafood products would not realistically use their newly-acquired inventory first in selling and shipping their products.

• These levels of increased cost are leaving many companies looking for ways to conserve cash and capital in other areas.
• As a result of the smaller economy, the repeal of LIFO would end up reducing federal tax revenue by $518 million each year.
• To illustrate this, suppose a business purchases three units of inventory throughout the year at three different prices ($30, $31, and $32).
• Companies with very fast inventory turnover use LIFO less than companies with slower inventory turnover.
• It does not represent available cash, but the amount that past profits would be higher under a different accounting system.
• This means the value of inventory is minimized and the value of cost of goods sold is increased.

LIFO liquidation may also generate positive cash flow and result in higher taxable income and higher tax payments. To the extent that companies have difficulty paying the additional tax on their LIFO reserve, investment by these companies would fall, which would lead to a reduction in employment. A tax increase of approximately $86 billion over a decade that impedes capital investment could result in an additional loss of employment equal to 50,300 full-time equivalent jobs in the short run. Another consequence might be forced restructurings, buy-outs, or churning of ownership of affected businesses.

This difference is most pronounced for companies that bought their first inventories decades ago. Nimble private companies have the ability to adjust their strategies quickly and can take advantage of the opportunities lifo reserve that exist in the current economic environment. Because of the book conformity requirement, companies should begin discussions immediately to assess whether LIFO can be adopted for financial reporting.

• FIFO states that if the bakery sold 200 loaves on Wednesday, the COGS (on the income statement) is $1 per loaf because that was the cost of each of the first loaves in inventory.
• LIFO is used primarily by a select group of companies who have had time to accumulate old inventories.
• It will be an increase in years of rising prices if all the inventory sold was purchased during the period.
• A company’s taxable income, net income, and balance sheet balances will all vary based on the inventory method selected.
• To the extent that companies have difficulty paying the additional tax on their LIFO reserve, investment by these companies would fall, which would lead to a reduction in employment.

When pre-tax earnings are lower, there is a lower amount to pay taxes on, thus, fewer taxes paid overall. Repealing LIFO for inventory accounting would bring the United States in line with international accounting standards while eliminating a major source of tax deferral for businesses. At the same time, LIFO can adjust for gains due solely to inflation and maintain tax neutrality between inventory and other types of capital. With that said, retaining LIFO would take a sizeable amount of revenue off the table, even if more of that revenue is one-time, upfront revenue rather than a long-term permanent gain. But dealing with LIFO isn’t just a matter of repeal or retain–policymakers must decide which accounting method works best to determine how inventory is counted in a business’s taxable income.