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It has been suggested that plant and equipment could be replaced more quickly if depreciation rates for income tax and accounting purposes were substantially increased. As a result, business operations would receive the benefit of more modern and more efficient plant facilities. Discuss the merits of this proposition.

Short Answer

Expert verified

It should be noted that increased depreciation may cause management to alter its decision about replacement.

Step by step solution

01

Step-by-Step SolutionStep 1: Meaning of Depreciation

Depreciation is the accounting practice of assigning the cost of tangible assets to expenses in a systematic and sensible manner to the periods in which the asset is expected to be used.

02

Explaining the merits of the proportion

The undepreciated cost of the old asset is not a consideration to consider when deciding whether or not to replace it. As a result, the amount of depreciation reported should have no bearing on the decision to replace plant assets. The relative efficiency of new equipment compared to existing equipment, the cost of new facilities, the availability of cash for the new asset, and other considerations all play a role in the selection.

Although the asset was still in use, the fact that it had been fully depreciated via the application of any accelerated depreciation technique should not normally prompt management to replace it. It is unreasonable for management to replace an asset simply because all or a significant portion of the cost had been carried off for tax and accounting purposes.

If depreciation rates were greater, it's possible that a company would be better equipped to replace assets since a bigger percentage of the asset's cost would have been charged to expenditure in the early years of its usage, resulting in a lower amount of income tax paid during that time. The greater depreciation charge may be sustained for tax purposes by selling the old item, which may result in a capital gain and acquiring a new asset. However, if the asset was traded in, the new asset would have a lower basis due to the larger depreciation.

It's worth noting that higher depreciation rates may drive growth rather than just replacement. Management may be enticed to expand because they believe that in the first few years when they are relatively certain that the additional facilities will be profitable, they will be able to depreciate a significant percentage of the cost for tax purposes. Similarly, because a replacement necessitates additional capital expenditures, the tax treatment may have an impact.

There may also be a propensity in the economy as a whole for the accounting and tax treatment of the cost of plant assets to affect the retirement of existing plant assets because of the encouragement to grow or establish new firms.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Jurassic Company owns equipment that cost \(900,000 and has accumulated depreciation of \)380,000. The expected future net cash flows from the use of the asset are expected to be \(500,000. The fair value of the equipment is \)400,000. Prepare the journal entry, if any, to record the impairment loss.

If Remmers, Inc. uses the composite method and its composite rate is 7.5% per year, what entry should it make when plant assets that originally cost \(50,000 and have been used for 10 years are sold for \)14,000?

(Depreciation鈥擟hange in Estimate) Machinery purchased for \(60,000 by Tom Brady Co. in 2013 was originally estimated to have a life of 8 years with a salvage value of \)4,000 at the end of that time. Depreciation has been entered for 5 years on this basis. In 2018, it is determined that the total estimated life should be 10 years with a salvage value of $4,500 at the end of that time. Assume straight-line depreciation.

Instructions

  1. Prepare the entry to correct the prior years鈥 depreciation, if necessary.
  2. Prepare the entry to record depreciation for 2018.

Dickinson Inc. owns the following assets.

Asset

Cost

Salvage

Estimated useful life

A

\(70,000

\)7,000

10 years

B

50,000

5,000

5 years

C

82,000

4,000

12 years

Compute the composite depreciation rate and the composite life of Dickinson鈥檚 assets.

(Depreciation Choice鈥擡thics) Jerry Prior, Beeler Corporation鈥檚 controller, is concerned that net income may be lower this year. He is afraid upper-level management might recommend cost reductions by laying off accounting staff, including him.

Prior knows that depreciation is a major expense for Beeler. The company currently uses the double-declining-balance method for both financial reporting and tax purposes, and he鈥檚 thinking of selling equipment that, given its age, is primarily used when there are periodic spikes in demand. The equipment has a carrying value of \(2,000,000 and a fair value of \)2,180,000. The gain on the sale would be reported in the income statement. He doesn鈥檛 want to highlight this method of increasing income. He thinks, 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 I increase the estimated useful lives and the salvage values? That will decrease depreciation expense and require less extensive disclosure, since the changes are accounted for prospectively. I may be able to save my job and those of my staff.鈥

Instructions

Answer the following questions.

  1. Who are the stakeholders in this situation?
  2. What are the ethical issues involved?
  3. What should Prior do?
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