25. Deferred tax assets/deferred tax liabilities

Deferred tax assets on tax loss carry-forwards and temporary differences amount to €607 million before offsetting (30/9/2018: €719 million), a decline of €112 million compared to 30 September 2018. The carrying amounts of deferred tax liabilities increased by €24 million to €534 million compared with the previous year (30/9/2018: €511 million). The previous year’s figures include €72 million in deferred tax assets and €6 million in deferred tax liabilities (before offsetting) attributable to METRO China.

Deferred taxes relate to the following balance sheet items:

Of the deferred tax assets shown, €52 million (30/9/2018: €130 million) are attributable to the group of incorporated companies of METRO AG. The additional deferred tax assets of €21 million (30/9/2018: €79 million) are attributable to various companies abroad. Based on business planning, realisation of these tax assets is to be considered sufficiently likely.

In accordance with IAS 12 (Income Taxes), deferred tax liabilities relating to differences between the carrying amount of a subsidiary’s pro rata equity in the balance sheet and the carrying amount of the investment for this subsidiary in the parent company’s tax statement must be recognised (so-called outside basis differences) if the tax benefit is likely to be realised in the future. The differences can primarily be attributed to retained earnings of subsidiaries in Germany and abroad. No deferred taxes were recognised for these retained earnings as they will be reinvested over an indefinite period of time or are not subject to relevant taxation. Any dividends paid by subsidiaries would be subject to dividend tax. In addition, foreign dividends may trigger a withholding tax. As of 30 September 2019, no deferred tax liabilities from outside basis differences were recognised for planned dividend payments (30/9/2018: €0 million). The sum of the amount of temporary differences in connection with investments in subsidiaries for which no deferred tax liabilities were recognised was not determined as this would have been disproportionately expensive due to the level of detail of the METRO group.

No deferred tax assets were capitalised for the following tax loss carry-forwards and interest carry-forwards or temporary differences because realisation of the assets in the short-to-medium term is not expected:

The loss carry-forwards as of the closing date predominantly concern the German consolidation group. They can be carried forward without limitation.

Deferred taxes on components of other comprehensive income primarily apply to the remeasurement of defined benefit pension plans. The other components are not tax-effective.