Therefore, the 1st option is better since it offers a lower cost of acquisition. Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia.

• Here, we explain the concept along with its formula, how to calculate it, examples, and benefits.
• Stated another way, it’s when a business or individual deliberately uses taxable expenses to offset taxable income.
• Depreciation is basically a way to spread out the expense of buying a business asset over the life of that asset.
• Alongside her accounting practice, Sandra is a Money and Life Coach for women in business.
• The higher the savings from the tax shield, the higher the company’s cash profit.
• The interest tax shield – or savings from the tax-deductibility of interest – is $210k.

How Does a Tax Shield Save on Taxes?

Tax-efficient investment strategies are cornerstones of investing for high net-worth individuals and corporations, whose annual tax bills can be very high. A tax shield is a reduction in taxable income by taking allowable deductions. Stated another way, it’s when a business or individual deliberately uses taxable expenses to offset taxable income. Examples of tax shields include deductions for mortgage interest that you pay on your mortgage loan. Other tax deductions include student loan interest, charitable donations, and certain medical expenses. A tax shield refers to tax deductions that an individual or business can take to lower their QuickBooks taxable income.

Operating Assumptions

You may also look into the related articles below for a better understanding. When it comes to understanding the tax shield definition, understanding how to calculate it under different scenarios is important. Sandra Habiger is a Chartered Professional Accountant with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington. Sandra’s areas of focus include advising real estate agents, brokers, and investors. She supports small businesses in growing to their first six figures and beyond. Alongside her accounting practice, Sandra is a Money and Life Coach for women in business.

How Is Tax Shield Interest Calculated?

These deductions reduce a taxpayer’s taxable income for a given year or defer income taxes into future years. Tax shields lower the overall amount of taxes owed by an individual taxpayer or a business. Both individuals and corporations are eligible to use a tax shield to reduce their taxable income. This happens through claiming deductions such as medical expenses, mortgage interest, charitable donations, depreciation, and amortization. Taxpayers can either reduce their taxable income for a specific year or choose to defer their income taxes to some point in the future. A tax shield  is a way for individual taxpayers and corporations to reduce their taxable income.

• If a company decides to take on debt, the lender is compensated through interest expense, which will be reflected on the company’s income statement in the non-operating income/(expenses) section.
• For example, because interest payments on certain debts are a tax-deductible expense, taking on qualifying debts can act as tax shields.
• She supports small businesses in growing to their first six figures and beyond.
• Implementing an effective tax shield strategy can help increase the total value of a business since it lowers tax liability.

Tax Shields for Depreciation

• The term “Tax Shield” refers to the deduction allowed on the taxable income that eventually results in the reduction of taxes owed to the government.
• A 25 % depreciation for plant and machinery is available on accelerated depreciation basis as Income tax exemption.
• But, first, do the calculation of Tax Shield enjoyed by the company.
• Many middle-class homeowners opt to deduct their mortgage expenses, thus shielding some of their income from taxes.
• Let’s look at the example of an owner of a fleet of trucks whose equipment depreciated over the tax year.
• If the business puts the tax shield benefit from the mortgage into the decision, the tax benefit of a mortgage might make the decision easier.
• The lower the taxable income, the lower the amount of taxes owed to the government, hence, tax savings for the taxpayer.

For example, if you have a tax rate of 24 percent and you have $2,000 in mortgage interest, you can determine that your tax shield would be $480. A tax shield also increases the value of a business, which is important if you want to sell your business or get loans and investors. Given law firm chart of accounts the decreased taxable income, Company B’s taxes for the current period are approximately $6.5m, which is $840k lower than Company A’s $7.4m in taxes. For both companies, the financials are the same until the operating income (EBIT) line, where each has an EBIT of $35m. The interest tax shield – or savings from the tax-deductibility of interest – is $210k. Let us consider an example of a company XYZ Ltd, which is in the business of manufacturing synthetic rubber.

Example 3 – For Individuals

Since the interest expense on debt is tax-deductible, whereas dividends to common equity holders are not, debt financing is often considered to be a “cheaper” source of capital, at least initially. Suppose the corporate tax rate is 21.0% and a company incurred $1 million of interest expense for the given period. Note that the following formula above is only applicable for companies that are profitable at the taxable income line. Another option is to acquire the asset on a lease rental of $ 25,000 per annum payable at the end of each year for 10 years.

All of these examples enable taxpayers to take deductions on their earnings, which lowers tax shield accounting their taxable income and “shields” them from additional taxes. Many middle-class homeowners opt to deduct their mortgage expenses, thus shielding some of their income from taxes. The good news is that calculating a tax shield can be fairly straightforward to do as long as you have the right information. You will need to know your individual tax rate as well as the amount of all your tax-deductible expenses. For example, a business is deciding whether to lease a building or buy the building.