The informative value of taxes: The case of temporal differences in tax accounting

This work is an overview of empirical research of the last decades in the field of deferred taxes, focusing on their value relevance when making business, investment and financing decisions. The majority of research is derived from the Anglo-Saxon area, where the USA Accounting Standard SFAS No.109 is implemented. According to the relevant literature, Deferred Tax Assets, in contrast to Deferred Tax Liabilities, are valued positively by capital markets. Deferred Taxes seem to correlate with Earnings Management and contribute positively to the forecast of future cash flows. An aggressive presentation of taxes in the balance sheet and significant Book-Tax Differences (BTDs) have a negative effect on credit rating and are perceived as a red flag for low quality earnings. The question whether the findings of these surveys can be useful for countries with different tax systems and accounting standards does not seem to have been answered adequately.   Key words: IAS 12, deferred taxation, financial markets.