greater expected future taxable income and (2) more DTLs (relative to DTAs) should be more likely to realize their DTAs and thus should have smaller VA balances.
They also hypothesize that firms with larger carryforwards should be less likely to realize their DTAs and thus should have larger VA balances.
Miller and Skinner (1998) find support for these hypotheses; however, the association between the VA and expected future taxable income is weak.
They do find a strong association between the VA and the amount of the DTA attributable to carryforwards, consistent with the carryforward limitations being a primary determinant of the valuation allowance.