On September 1, 2013, Jacob Furniture Mart enters into a tentative agreement to sell the assets of its office equipment division. This division qualifies as a component of the entity according to GAAP regarding discontinued operations. The division's contribution to Jacob's operating income for 2013 was a $3 million loss before taxes. Jacob has an average tax rate of 30%. Assume that Jacob had not yet sold the division's assets by the end of 2013. Further, assume that the fair value less costs to sell of the division's assets at December 31, 2013, was $24 million and was expected to remain the same when the assets are sold in 2014. The book value of the division's assets was $19 million at the end of the year. Under these assumptions, what would Jacob report in its 2013 income statement regarding the office equipment division? Explain where this information would be presented.

Answer 1

Jacob would report a loss of $3 million before taxes on discontinued operations in its 2013 income statement, as well as an impairment loss of $5 million (fair value less cost to sell of $24 million minus book value of $19 million), also related to discontinued operations.

The loss on discontinued operations would be reported net of the tax effect. The tax effect on the operating loss would be $3 million x 30% = $900,000. Therefore, the net operating loss on discontinued operations would be $3 million - $900,000 = $2.1 million. Since the impairment loss is not tax-deductible, there is no tax effect on it.

In summary, Jacob would report the following amounts related to the office equipment division in its 2013 income statement:

1. Loss from discontinued operations (net of tax effect): $2.1 million
2. Impairment loss on assets held for sale: $5 million

These amounts would be presented separately in the income statement, usually in a separate section titled "Discontinued Operations" or "Results of Discontinued Operations" below the results of the continuing operations.