经济学人284:低税为何会让美国大银行很受伤

 　　Financial accounting¹

　　财务会计

　　Double-edged deferral²

　　递延资产是把双刃剑

　　How lower taxes could hurt America’s big banks

　　低税为何会让美国大银行很受伤

　　WHEN is a corporate³-tax cut bad for a corporation? When it would trigger hefty write-downs of peculiar⁴ but critical assets, as is the case at some of America’s largest banks. The accounting item in question is the deferred-tax asset (DTA). This is a legacy⁵ of the financial crisis. America’s tax code allows losses amassed⁶ during the meltdown (with some restrictions) to be used to offset⁷ future tax bills. Since a bank is increasing its future cashflows by reducing expected tax payments, this is recorded as an asset on the balance-sheet.

　　什么时候削减公司税对公司不利？答案是，当它可能引发特殊而重要的资产发生重大减值时，就象美国最大的几家银行那样。我们这里要讨论的会计科目是递延税项资产，这是金融危机的产物。按照美国税法，经济崩溃时的累积亏损（还要符合一些限定条件）可用以抵减以后年度的税款。因为银行的预计税款支出减少，未来的现金流量将会增加，因此在资产负债表上它作为一项资产列示。

　　JPMorgan Chase held DTAs of $16 billion at the end of last year, while Bank of America had $27 billion-worth. The undisputed deferred-tax king, however, is Citigroup with slightly more than $50 billion-worth, the largest discretionary accounting item in the company’s history.

　　上年末，摩根大通的递延税项资产总额为160亿美元，而美国银行为270亿美元。花旗银行的递延税项资产略高于500亿美元，毫无疑问，它是递延税项资产之王，这个酌量性会计项目的数额在该公司历史上是最高的。

　　To some, this looks highly optimistic. Mike Mayo, an analyst⁸ with CLSA, a broker⁹, has relentlessly¹⁰ questioned Citi’s ability to produce enough taxable income to justify¹¹ the asset and has suggested that it could be overvalued by $10 billion—a view for which he was, for a time, blackballed and badmouthed by the firm’s top brass¹². Citi rejects the suggestion that it is counting imaginary beans. Its DTA is, according to its latest filing, “recognised subject to management’s judgment¹³ that realisation is more likely than not” (though it acknowledges that some help from “tax-planning strategies” may be needed).

　　也许有些人觉得这非常乐观。券商法国里昂证券公司（CLSA）分析师迈克?马约毫不留情地质疑花旗银行是否能够创造足够的应税收益以实现这项巨额资产，他认为花旗银行该项资产的价值可能被高估了100亿美元，他曾因此遭到公司高层的反对和指责。花旗不承认他们高估了该资产。根据最新文件，他们的递延税项资产是按照管理层的判断进行确认的，最终有可能实现，而且可能性很大。（尽管他们承认这可能需要借助于税收筹划）

　　Banks with DTAs have to worry about electoral politics as well as future profits. With Barack Obama and all the Republican presidential candidates either keen or at least prepared to lower the top rate of federal corporate tax from today’s 35%, a reduction over the next year or two looks reasonably likely, with an outside chance of a sharp cut. Any such move would make DTAs less valuable since future tax deductions¹⁴ would be worth less. With tax at 35%, a dollar of such deductions saves a company 35 cents. A cut to 20% would reduce the benefit to 20 cents.

　　拥有递延税项资产的银行除了要关注未来的营利，还得关注总统候选人的政策理念，奥巴马和所有的共和党侯选人要么急于、要么至少准备降低联邦公司税的税率，目前税率是35%，在今后一两年有理由相信这个税率会降低，但下降幅度不可能太大。任何此类行为都会使递延税款资产发生减值，因为税率降低将导致未来税款抵减额减少。当税率为35%时，一美元此类抵减额能为公司节省35美分。如果税率降低到20%，一美元抵减额就只能为公司节省20美分。

1 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

2 deferral   

n.延期，缓役

参考例句：

• It also calls for the deferral of a share of bonuses. 协议还要求一部分奖金延期发放。 来自互联网
• Even implementing the interest-deferral scheme for homeowners has proved inconveniently tricky. 甚至是对房主实行的推迟利息的方案，结果证明也是极不方便的。 来自互联网

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

10 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

14 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。