Sambandet melllan redovisning och beskattning - de lege lata och de lege ferenda
(2007)Department of Law
- Abstract
- In Swedish tax law there is a connection between the accounting of a company and the taxation of the same. In this essay I describe and discuss this connection. The essay is divided into two parts - one part describing the connection of today, and one part discussing the connection of tomorrow. To understand the connection between the accounting and the taxation, one must know the fundamentals of the accounting of a company. Most companies must create an annual financial report and the parent company in a group of companies must create a consolidated financial statement. Both these reports should contain of a profit and loss account showing the result of the company, a balance sheet showing the assets and liabilities of the company, notes... (More)
- In Swedish tax law there is a connection between the accounting of a company and the taxation of the same. In this essay I describe and discuss this connection. The essay is divided into two parts - one part describing the connection of today, and one part discussing the connection of tomorrow. To understand the connection between the accounting and the taxation, one must know the fundamentals of the accounting of a company. Most companies must create an annual financial report and the parent company in a group of companies must create a consolidated financial statement. Both these reports should contain of a profit and loss account showing the result of the company, a balance sheet showing the assets and liabilities of the company, notes explaining the items in the profit and loss account and the balance sheet and finally a report of the directors explaining in words the financial position of the company. For the understanding of the connection, it is also important to understand the basic accounting principles. A central expression in Swedish accounting law is general accepted accounting principles (GAAP) (Sw. ''god redovisningssed''), which in most cases guides the periodizing and valuation in the accounting. The material content of the GAAP is however not clear. There are different types of connections between the accounting and the taxation. One of the most significant connections is called the material connection. According to this connection, the taxation should follow GAAP, unless something else is particularly stated in the tax law. If the company in its accounting has followed GAAP, the taxation should according to the material connection follow the periodization and valuation made in the accounting. In the doctrine there are complains of the connection. Among others, there are views saying that the connection has a negative influence on the accounting. Since a company normally wants to reduce the tax burden, this may risk the standard of the accounting. Another view in the doctrine is that due to the connection the companies get the possibility to decide the size of their basis for taxation. Further, the connection is criticized due to the influence of international accounting standards in Swedish accounting. Due to the problems with the connection of today, the Swedish government has appointed a commission, to analyze the future of the connection between the accounting and the taxation. The official report is not due until June, 2008. I have however been given the opportunity to study the content of the commission's proposal so far. The commission will propose that the current connection between the accounting and the taxation should be abolished. Instead there should be a complete regulation regarding periodizing and valuation in the tax law. The tax rules should be formulated as minimum rules. If a higher accounting has been entered in the accounts, the company may follow this accounting in the taxation as well. According to the commission their proposal will make Swedish tax system foreseeable, neutral, easy to apply and adjusted to the systems applied in many other countries. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1563113
- author
- Wittrup, Karin
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2007
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Skatterätt
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1563113
- date added to LUP
- 2010-03-08 15:55:31
- date last changed
- 2010-03-08 15:55:31
@misc{1563113,
abstract = {{In Swedish tax law there is a connection between the accounting of a company and the taxation of the same. In this essay I describe and discuss this connection. The essay is divided into two parts - one part describing the connection of today, and one part discussing the connection of tomorrow. To understand the connection between the accounting and the taxation, one must know the fundamentals of the accounting of a company. Most companies must create an annual financial report and the parent company in a group of companies must create a consolidated financial statement. Both these reports should contain of a profit and loss account showing the result of the company, a balance sheet showing the assets and liabilities of the company, notes explaining the items in the profit and loss account and the balance sheet and finally a report of the directors explaining in words the financial position of the company. For the understanding of the connection, it is also important to understand the basic accounting principles. A central expression in Swedish accounting law is general accepted accounting principles (GAAP) (Sw. ''god redovisningssed''), which in most cases guides the periodizing and valuation in the accounting. The material content of the GAAP is however not clear. There are different types of connections between the accounting and the taxation. One of the most significant connections is called the material connection. According to this connection, the taxation should follow GAAP, unless something else is particularly stated in the tax law. If the company in its accounting has followed GAAP, the taxation should according to the material connection follow the periodization and valuation made in the accounting. In the doctrine there are complains of the connection. Among others, there are views saying that the connection has a negative influence on the accounting. Since a company normally wants to reduce the tax burden, this may risk the standard of the accounting. Another view in the doctrine is that due to the connection the companies get the possibility to decide the size of their basis for taxation. Further, the connection is criticized due to the influence of international accounting standards in Swedish accounting. Due to the problems with the connection of today, the Swedish government has appointed a commission, to analyze the future of the connection between the accounting and the taxation. The official report is not due until June, 2008. I have however been given the opportunity to study the content of the commission's proposal so far. The commission will propose that the current connection between the accounting and the taxation should be abolished. Instead there should be a complete regulation regarding periodizing and valuation in the tax law. The tax rules should be formulated as minimum rules. If a higher accounting has been entered in the accounts, the company may follow this accounting in the taxation as well. According to the commission their proposal will make Swedish tax system foreseeable, neutral, easy to apply and adjusted to the systems applied in many other countries.}},
author = {{Wittrup, Karin}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Sambandet melllan redovisning och beskattning - de lege lata och de lege ferenda}},
year = {{2007}},
}