17.6 After-Tax Replacement Study
When a currently installed asset (the defender) is challenged with possible replacement, the effect
of taxes can have an impact upon the decision of the replacement study. The fi nal decision
may not be reversed by taxes, but the difference between before-tax AW values may be signifi -
cantly different from the after-tax difference. Tax considerations in the year of the replacement
are as follows:
Depreciation recapture or tax savings due to a sizable capital loss are possible, if it is necessary
to trade the defender at a sacrifi ce price. Additionally, the after-tax replacement study considers
tax-deductible depreciation and operating expenses not accounted for in a before-tax analysis.
The effective tax rate T e is used to estimate the amount of annual taxes (or tax savings) from TI.
The same procedure as the before-tax replacement study in Chapter 11 is applied here, but for
CFAT estimates. The procedure should be thoroughly understood before proceeding. Special attention
to Sections 11.3 and 11.5 is recommended.
Example 17.10 presents a solution by hand of an after-tax replacement study using a simplifying
assumption of classical SL (straight line) depreciation. Example 17.11 solves the same problem
by spreadsheet, but includes the detail of MACRS depreciation. This provides an opportunity
to observe the difference in the AW values between the two depreciation methods.