FASB proposes revised improvements to income tax disclosure requirements

FASB has issued a revised proposed Accounting Standards Update (ASU) intended to improve the relevance of current income tax disclosure requirements to financial statement users. Stakeholders are encouraged to review and provide comment on the proposed ASU by May 31, 2019.

In July 2016, FASB issued a proposed ASU that set forth enhanced disclosure requirements for income taxes. The proposed ASU was part of FASB’s broader disclosure framework project to improve the effectiveness of disclosures in notes to financial statements.

The Board delayed finalizing the proposal because of potential tax reform. The federal government subsequently passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, which substantially changed how U.S. businesses are taxed. As a result, FASB decided to revise its original proposal.

The resulting proposed ASU reflects these revisions, as well as stakeholder input on the original July 2016 proposal. The revised proposed ASU would (1) remove disclosures that no longer are considered cost beneficial or relevant and (2) add disclosure requirements identified as relevant to financial statement users.