At its January 2005 meeting, the Board decided to consider whether to include in IAS 12, guidance on certain areas that are covered in SFAS 109. The staff recommended that guidance on the following areas be included in IAS 12:

• computation process for determining deferred taxes
• special deductions
• alternative minimum taxation requirements
• impact of a change in an entity's tax status on current and deferred taxes - the timing of recognition of the tax effects of a change in tax status
• measuring the realisability of deferred tax assets
• allocation of current and deferred taxes for a group that files a consolidated tax return.

The staff did not recommend the inclusion of guidance on the following areas:

• income statement recognition requirements following a business combination
• regulated entities

Generally, the Board agreed with the staff recommendations for the reasons outlined in the Board papers.

The Board considered the difference in approach between the IASB and the FASB as regards use of the distributed or undistributed rate of income tax. The Board decided to discuss this issue at the joint meeting of the two Boards in April. Some Board members tentatively indicated that they were not convinced with the FASB position (the distributed rate approach).