Accounting Rules Eyed for Business Incentives, Some Tax Breaks

After years of debate and several false starts, US accounting standard-setters agreed unanimously Wednesday to write formal accounting rules for certain tax breaks and other incentives that governments dole out to businesses.

US accounting rules require companies to include limited details in their financial statement footnotes about credits and grants, but businesses don’t currently have to record these breaks in their income statements or on their balance sheets. A flood of government relief during the coronavirus pandemic to keep businesses afloat increased pressure on the Financial Accounting Standards Board to take action.

“We have this hole in GAAP,” FASB member ...