Note 17 Deferred tax

The deferred tax item is made up as follows:

Deferred tax assets

This item is made up of the differences between the reported carrying amounts of the items of property, plant and equipment and other balance sheet items , including provisions and assets held for sale, and the corresponding tax bases.

Gross movement in deferred tax assets

The deferred tax assets of €227 million in respect of property, plant and equipment (2015: €259 million) are the result of differences between the carrying amounts in the financial statements and the tax bases. Alliander became liable to corporate income tax on 1 January 1998 and the item of deferred tax arose on that date. The carrying amounts of the property, plant and equipment agreed with the Dutch Tax & Customs Administration as at 1 January 1998 have depreciation periods extending ahead as far as 2030. Realisation of the temporary difference relating to these assets is therefore spread out over this period. In addition, the item Property, plant and equipment deferred tax refers to the general overhead surcharge that has been capitalised for tax purposes, the effects of implementing IFRS accounting policies in 2005 and the arbitrary amortisation tax break allowed in the past.

The reduction of €32 million in the amount of the deferred tax assets in 2016 is to a large degree accounted for by the new consolidation (€19 million) and relates to the acquisition of AEF B.V. The change in the deferred tax recognised in the income statement (€15 million) and the change in the deferred tax asset recognised directly in equity (€2 million) have the effect of reducing the deferred tax by a total of €13 million. Reclassified as assets held for sale in 2015 relates to Endinet.

There were no changes in the rates of corporate income tax in 2016. As at year-end 2016, there was an unrecognised deferred tax asset of €15 million. This relates to tax loss carryforwards relating to our activities in Germany and Belgium in connection with the projected results in the medium term for the German and Belgian entities.

The deferred tax liabilities as at year-end 2016 stood at €5 million (year-end 2015: nil). The change is accounted for by the new consolidation of the acquired company 450connect GmbH, amounting to €6 million, being the net effect of tax loss carryforwards of the 450connect GmbH tax group (deferred tax asset of €2 million) and the difference between the reported carrying amount of licences and their corresponding tax base (deferred tax liability of €8 million). There was a change of €1 million (increase in asset) in the tax losses over the course of 2016, making a figure of €3 million as at year-end.