25. Deferred tax assets/deferred tax liabilities

Deferred tax assets on tax loss carry-forwards and temporary differences amount to €1,434 million before netting (30/9/2015: €1,466 million), a decline of €32 million compared with 30 September 2015. The carrying amounts of deferred tax liabilities increased by €37 million to €921 million compared with the previous year (30/9/2015: €884 million).

Deferred taxes relate to the following balance sheet items:

Of the deferred tax assets shown, €377 million (30/9/2015: €390 million) are attributable to the German incorporated companies of METRO AG. Based on business planning, realisation of this tax asset is to be considered sufficiently probable.

In accordance with IAS 12 (Income Taxes), deferred tax liabilities relating to differences between the carrying amount of a subsidiary’s pro rata equity in the balance sheet and the carrying amount of the investment for this subsidiary in the parent company’s tax statement must be recognised (so-called outside basis differences) if the tax benefit is likely to be realised in the future. The differences can primarily be attributed to retained earnings of subsidiaries in Germany and abroad. No deferred taxes were recognised for these retained earnings as they will be reinvested over an indefinite period of time or are not subject to relevant taxation. Any dividends paid by subsidiaries would be subject to a dividend tax of 5 per cent. In addition, foreign dividends may trigger a withholding tax. As of 30 September 2016, €4 million (30/9/2015: €4 million) in deferred tax liabilities from outside basis differences were recognised for planned dividend payments. Due to the hierarchical structure of METRO GROUP, the determination of the taxable temporary differences would require disproportionately high efforts.

No deferred tax assets were capitalised for the following tax loss carry-forwards and interest carry-forwards or temporary differences because realisation of the assets in the short-to-medium term is not expected:

The losses primarily concern Germany. They can be carried forward without limitation.

Tax effects on components of other comprehensive income

As a result of non-taxable events as well as the non-recognition and impairment of deferred taxes, the recognised tax does not correspond to the estimated tax for each item.