The Taxpayer Has Consistently, but Incorrectly, Used an Allowance for Bad

question 87

Multiple Choice

The taxpayer has consistently, but incorrectly, used an allowance for bad debts. At the beginning of the year, the balance in the allowance account is $90,000.

• A) If the IRS examines the taxpayer's return and requires the taxpayer to change accounting methods, the taxpayer will be required to recognize an additional $90,000 of income (one-half in the current year and one- half in the following year) as the adjustment due to the change in accounting methods.
• B) If the taxpayer voluntarily changes methods, the $90,000 adjustment can be spread over the current and three following years.
• C) If the taxpayer voluntarily changes methods, the $90,000 reserve can be used to absorb bad debts until the account balance is zero.
• D) If the IRS examines the taxpayer's return, no adjustment to the reserve account will be required if the balance is consistent with prior bad debt experience.
• E) None of the above.

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Definitions:

Recall

The act of retrieving information or memories from the past, without the aid of specific cues for what is being remembered.

Proactive Interference

A phenomenon in memory research where older information interferes with the recall of newer information.

Retroactive Interference

An occurrence where newly acquired knowledge hampers the retrieval of information learned earlier.

Encoding Failure

A phenomenon where the brain fails to create a memory link for information, making it difficult to remember later.