Current Income Tax Disclosures in Separate Financial Statements of IFRS Adopters in Slovakia

Abstract

As a direct result of the accession into EU, IFRSs have been introduced in Slovakia as a framework for compilation of separate financial statements of various businesses since 2006. Because of traditionally strong ties between accounting and tax regulation, taxpayers and tax authorities were exposed to an unprecedented situation. Consequently, national parliament and the government have tried to address major identified issues. Apparently, two underlying principles have been established for carrying out these initiatives – to comply with the Regulation No. 1606/2002 and to keep the tax burden at the same level. Still, there is serious concern about the effectiveness of the measures adopted, as there are at least three approaches for determination of income taxes of IFRS adopters in Slovakia. Because the relevance of accounting information is partially driven by their ability to predict future order and results of events, our paper is focused on the assessment of the disclosures related to current income tax determination, presented in the separate financial statements of the said companies. Though lack of such information decrease the relevance of financial statements, it is quite commonplace. Additionally, we have found traces of boilerplate disclosures (i. e. likely wordings presented in financial statements of different companies).