Income taxes
| in CHF 000 | 2020 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current income taxes | 20 486 | 26 877 | ||
| Deferred income taxes | (17 306) | (29 772) | ||
| Total | 3 180 | (2 895) |
Analysis of tax expense
| in CHF 000 | 2020 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income / (loss) before taxes | (91 462) | 94 863 | ||
| Average income tax rate | 13.4% | 21.8% | ||
| Expected tax expense (using weighted average tax rates) | (12 268) | 20 677 | ||
| Credits and income taxes incurred from previous periods | 723 | (1 859) | ||
| Use of previously unrecognised loss carryforwards | (82) | (3 766) | ||
| Unrecognised deferred tax assets on tax loss carryforwards | 2 175 | 2 601 | ||
| Expiry of capitalised tax loss carryforwards | – | 713 | ||
| Impact of Swiss participation exemption and other non-taxable items | (2 025) | (3 098) | ||
| Expenses not deductible from tax and income not credited to the income statement | (129) | (408) | ||
| Non-tax-deductible impairment on goodwill | 14 849 | 4 750 | ||
| Change in deferred taxes due to change in tax rates | 1 151 | (14 609) | ||
| Tax effects on investments | (1 308) | (7 873) | ||
| Other impacting items | 94 | (22) | ||
| Income taxes | 3 180 | (2 895) | ||
| Effective tax rate | –3.5% | –3.1% |
The expected average tax rate was 13.4 per cent in 2020 (previous year: 21.8 per cent). The weighted tax rate of 13.4 per cent is based on the weighting for the expected tax rates for each company. Both positive and negative results for the individual companies feed into the calculation for the expected tax rate, taking into account the applicable tax rates in each case, therefore resulting – in conjunction with lower tax rates – in a lower expected tax rate compared with the previous year.
The effective tax rate changed from -3.1 per cent to -3.5 per cent. The non-tax-deductible impairment on goodwill with a theoretical tax effect in the amount of CHF 14.8 million (previous year: CHF 4.8 million) is attributable to the impairment on goodwill of CHF 85 million (previous year: CHF 24.7 million) for the Tamedia segment. More information on goodwill and the impairment testing performed can be found in Note 22. Unrecognised deferred tax assets on tax loss carryforwards result from the estimate that, based on their income situation, the relevant companies do not fulfil the prerequisites for the realisation of losses. The tax effects on investments, which mainly resulted from book depreciation and amortisation on their carrying amounts (without any deferred tax consequences) and significantly reduced the tax expenses, were much less pronounced in 2020.
In 2019, the adjustments to the cantonal tax laws with effect from 1 January 2019 and 1 January 2020 led to new income tax rates. These adjustments reduced deferred tax liabilities by CHF 14.6 million in net terms, resulting in tax revenue of the same amount in 2019.