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 (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:

 

30/9/20181

30/9/2019

Change through profit or loss

€ million

Assets

Liabilities

Assets

Liabilities

Assets

Liabilities

1

Adjustment of previous year according to explanation in notes.

Goodwill

27

29

23

33

−5

4

Other intangible assets

17

86

10

103

−7

17

Property, plant and equipment and investment properties

60

292

74

307

21

15

Financial investments and investments accounted
for using the equity method

10

8

5

4

−5

−3

Inventories

26

5

19

1

−3

−2

Other financial and non-financial assets

82

29

40

34

−5

12

Assets held for sale

1

8

0

0

−1

−8

Provisions for post-employment benefits plans and similar obligations

95

36

117

30

5

−5

Other provisions

38

0

42

4

4

5

Financial liabilities

192

5

177

3

−13

−3

Other financial and non-financial liabilities

57

13

60

15

34

0

Write-downs of temporary differences

−22

0

−28

0

−6

0

Loss carry-forwards

136

0

67

0

−68

0

Carrying amount of deferred taxes before offsetting

719

511

607

534

−49

34

Offsetting

−390

−390

−416

−416

−34

−34

Carrying amount of deferred taxes

329

120

191

119

−83

0

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:

€ million

30/9/2018

30/9/2019

Corporate tax losses

4,320

4,883

Trade tax losses

3,296

3,679

Interest carry-forwards

57

83

Temporary differences

104

120

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

Tax effects on components of other comprehensive income

 

2017/18

2018/19

€ million

Before taxes

Taxes

After taxes

Before taxes

Taxes

After taxes

Currency translation differences from translating the financial statements of foreign operations

−190

0

−190

138

0

138

thereof currency translation differences from net investments in foreign operations

(3)

(0)

(3)

(40)

(0)

(40)

Effective portion of gains/losses from cash flow hedges

2

0

2

2

0

2

Gains/losses on remeasuring financial instruments in the category ‘available for sale’

9

0

9

0

0

0

Effects from the fair value measurement of equity instruments

0

0

0

−3

0

−3

Effects from the fair value measurement of debt instruments

0

0

0

0

0

0

Remeasurement of defined benefit pension plans

17

−6

11

−94

22

−73

Remaining income tax on other comprehensive income

0

4

4

0

−4

−4

 

−162

−2

−164

43

17

59

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.

Previous year
Period of 12 months, usually cited as reference for statements in an annual report.
Glossary