Retained earnings
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The retained earnings (also known as plowback[1]) of a corporation is the accumulated net income of the corporation that is retained by the corporation at a particular point of time, such as at the end of the reporting period. At the end of that period, the net income (or net loss) at that point is transferred from the Profit and Loss Account to the retained earnings account. If the balance of the retained earnings account is negative it may be called accumulated losses, retained losses or accumulated deficit, or similar terminology.
Any part of a credit balance in the account can be capitalised, by the issue of
In accounting, the retained earnings at the end of one accounting period is the opening retained earnings in the next period, to which is added the net income or net loss for that period and from which is deducted the bonus shares issued in the year and dividends paid in that period.
If a company is publicly held, the balance of retained earnings account that is negatively referred to as "accumulated deficit" may appear in the Accountant's Opinion in what is called the "Ongoing Concern" statement located at the end of required SEC financial reporting at the end of each quarter.
Retained earnings are reported in the
Due to the nature of
Stockholders' equity
When total assets are greater than total liabilities, stockholders have a positive equity (positive book value). Conversely, when total liabilities are greater than total assets, stockholders have a negative stockholders' equity (negative book value) — also sometimes called stockholders' deficit. A stockholders' deficit does not mean that stockholders owe money to the corporation as they own only its net assets and are not accountable for its liabilities, though it is one of the definitions of insolvency. It means that the value of the assets of the company must rise above its liabilities before the stockholders hold positive equity value in the company.
- Retained earnings = opening retained earnings + current year net profit from p&l a/c - dividends paid in current year
Tax implications
A company is normally subject to a company tax on the net income of the company in a financial year. The amount added to retained earnings is generally the after tax net income. In most cases in most jurisdictions no tax is payable on the accumulated earnings retained by a company. However, this creates a potential for tax avoidance, because the corporate tax rate is usually lower than the higher marginal rates for some individual taxpayers. Higher income taxpayers could "park" income inside a private company instead of being paid out as a dividend and then taxed at the individual rates. To remove this tax benefit, some jurisdictions impose an "undistributed profits tax" on retained earnings of private companies, usually at the highest individual marginal tax rate.
The issue of
Retaining earnings by a company increases the company's shareholder equity, which increases the value of each shareholder's shareholding. This increases the share price, which may result in a capital gains tax liability when the shares are disposed.
The decision of whether a corporation should retain net income or have it paid out as dividends depends on several factors including, but not limited to:
- Tax treatment of dividends, and
- Funds required for reinvestment in the corporation (called retention).
A number of factors affect the decision of the amount of profit that a corporation should retain, including:
- Quantum of net profit.
- Age of the business enterprise
- Dividend policy of the corporation
- Future plan regarding modernization and expansion.
See also
- Dividend cover
- Dividend payout ratio
- Liquidating dividend
- Reserve (accounting)
References
- ISBN 1305534042.
- ^ "What is a Retained Earnings Deficit? - Definition | Meaning | Example". My Accounting Course. Retrieved 2020-01-07.