The incremental usefulness of income tax allocations in predicting one-year-ahead future cash flows

Abstract

Interperiod income tax allocation has been a hotly debated financial accounting issue for a long time. Critics of interperiod tax allocation frequently question the usefulness of the extra information, particularly considering the FASB's decision usefulness approach stated in its Conceptual Framework. This study extends the research of Cheung et al. (1997) and Krishnan and Largay (2000) by using the ability to predict future taxes paid and future cash flow as criteria to evaluate the usefulness of interperiod tax allocation. This study extends previous research by examining not only whether interperiod tax allocation included in financial statements is useful, but also by examining whether such information is incrementally useful beyond taxes paid. For predicting future taxes paid and operating cash flow, our analyses provides little evidence that interperiod tax allocation information included in financial statements adds incremental predictive value beyond taxes paid as reported on the cash flow statement.