Acceptability of IFRS for tax purposes in UK
05 Mar 2004
In our news story of 11 December 2003, we reported that UK Chancellor Gordon Brown told the House of Commons that "firms applying IAS will not have to submit a second and separate set of accounts to the Inland Revenue".
The Inland Revenue's Website now has details about what will be proposed. "Finance Bill 2004 will include measures to ensure that companies choosing to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS) to draw up their accounts will receive broadly equivalent tax treatment to companies that continue to use UK GAAP." The website has a table comparing IAS and UK GAAP and "background on IAS/UK GAAP and why it is important for tax. This section gives details on why tax departs from the accounts and where IAS may lead to changes in the way items are accounted for, in particular the increased use of fair value accounting."