Dollar-Value LIFO: What it is, How it Works

(b) Raw materials which are substantially similar shall be pooled together in accordance with the principles of this subparagraph. However, inventories of raw or unprocessed materials of an unlike nature may not be placed into one pool, even though such materials become part of otherwise identical finished products. Dollar value LIFO is an inventory valuation method that is based on the last in first out method.

• On the other hand, if the production of a manufacturing or processing plant is transferred to a separate and distinct division of the taxpayer, which constitutes a natural business unit, the supplier unit itself will ordinarily be considered a natural business unit.
• The value of ending inventory at dollar value LIFO for 2017 and 2018 are $120,800 and $121,250, respectively.
• The appropriateness of a taxpayer’s computation of an IPI, which includes all the steps described in paragraph (e)(3)(iii) of this section, will be determined in connection with an examination of the taxpayer’s federal income tax return.
• When prices are decreasing, dollar-value LIFO will show a decreased COGS and a higher net income.
• Add this reinflated result, $69,000, to the base-year ending inventory of $200,000 to get your Year 2 ending dollar-value LIFO inventory of $269,000.

(C) Assignment of inventory items to BLS categories—(1) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3)(iii)(C)(2) of this section, a taxpayer must assign each item in a dollar-value pool to the most-detailed BLS category of the selected BLS table that contains that item. For example, in Table 6 of the “PPI Detailed Report” for a given month, the commodity codes for the various BLS categories run from 2 to 8 digits, with the least-detailed BLS categories having a 2-digit code and the most-detailed BLS categories usually (but not always) having an 8-digit code.

Advantage of dollar-value LIFO method over specific goods method

Periodically, the BLS revises a BLS table to add one or more new BLS categories, eliminate one or more previously reported BLS categories, or reset the base-year BLS price index of one or more BLS categories. For example, if the BLS revised the CPI by adding new BLS categories as of January 2001 and eliminating some previously reported BLS categories as of December 2000, January 2002 would be the first month for which it would be possible to compute a category inflation index for a 12-month period using the BLS price indexes for any affected category. The compound category inflation index described in paragraph (e)(3)(iii)(D)(4)(ii) of this section is a reasonable method of computing the category inflation index for an affected BLS category. Any method of pooling authorized by this section and used by the taxpayer in computing his LIFO inventories under the dollar-value method shall be treated as a method of accounting. Any method of pooling which is authorized by this section shall be used for the year of adoption and for all subsequent taxable years unless a change is required by the Commissioner in order to clearly reflect income, or unless permission to change is granted by the Commissioner as provided in paragraph (e) of § 1.446–1. Where the taxpayer changes from one method of pooling to another method of pooling permitted by this section, the ending LIFO inventory for the taxable year preceding the year of change shall be restated under the new method of pooling.

Your base-year ending inventory is $200,000, and since the base year is the first year, the change from the previous year is zero. In Year 2, your physical inventory has a cost of $299,000, which you deflate to $260,000 by dividing it by the Year 2 cost index of 115 percent. The real-dollar increase in inventory is $260,000 minus $200,000, or $60,000. To calculate the Year 2 cost layer, multiply the Year 2 layer, $60,000, by the year’s cost index, 115 percent.

By Category

(b) Prepare a schedule to compute the inventory amounts at December 31, 2017 and 2018, using the dollar-value LIFO inventory method. Suppose entity had a beginning inventory with total value of 100,000. By the end of the year total value of inventory held was 120,000. Dollar-value LIFO is a modification of traditional LIFO method in which ending inventory is measured on the basis of monetary value of units instead of quantity of units held. At December 31, 2022, ending inventory was $103,000, with a price index of 1.00, using dollar-value LIFO.

(iv) To determine whether there is an increment or liquidation in a pool for a particular taxable year, the end of the year inventory of the pool expressed in terms of base-year cost is compared with the beginning of the year inventory of the pool expressed in terms of base-year cost. When the end of the year inventory of the pool is in excess of the beginning of the year inventory of the pool an increment occurs in the pool for that year. If there is an increment for the taxable year, the ratio of the total current-year cost of the pool to the total base-year cost of the pool must be computed. This ratio when multiplied by the amount of the increment measured in terms of base-year cost gives the LIFO value of such increment.

Disadvantages of the Dollar-Value LIFO Method

Another major issue with LIFO is delayering or better known as LIFO liquidation or erosion. To solve delayering problem, we use traditional LIFO’s modified approach called Dollar-Value LIFO. The companies that maintain a large number of products and expect significant changes in their product mix in future frequently use dollar-value LIFO technique. The use of traditional LIFO approaches is common among companies that have a few items and expect very little to no change in their product mix. (d) Pursuant to any other proper method which, in the opinion of the Commissioner, clearly reflects income. Prepare a worksheet to show the adjusted net income figure for each of the 6 years after taking into account the inventoryerrors.

• If the taxpayer does not reconstruct or establish to the satisfaction of the Commissioner a base-year unit cost, but does reconstruct or establish to the satisfaction of the Commissioner the cost of the item at some year subsequent to the base year, he may use the earliest cost which he does reconstruct or establish as the base-year unit cost.
• The pool or pools selected must be used for the year of adoption and for all subsequent taxable years unless a change is required by the Commissioner in order to clearly reflect income, or unless permission to change is granted by the Commissioner as provided in paragraph (e) of § 1.446–1.
• If the entering item is a product or raw material not in existence on the base date, its cost may be reconstructed, that is, the taxpayer using reasonable means may determine what the cost of the item would have been had it been in existence in the base year.
• If inflation and other economic factors (such as supply and demand) were not an issue, dollar-value and non-dollar-value accounting methods would have the same results.
• On the other hand, if items in a dollar-value pool have not been assigned to a 10 percent BLS category because the taxpayer determines that a single BLS category is not appropriate for the aggregate of those items, the taxpayer must assign each of those items to a single miscellaneous BLS category created by the taxpayer (also, a 10 percent category).

Adequate records must be maintained to support the base-year unit cost as well as the current-year unit cost for all items priced on the dollar-value LIFO inventory method, regardless of the method authorized by paragraph (e) of this section which is used in computing the LIFO value of the dollar-value pool. The pool or pools selected must be used for the year of adoption and for all subsequent taxable years unless a change is required by the Commissioner in order to clearly reflect income, or unless permission to change is granted by the Commissioner as provided in paragraph (e) of § 1.446–1. However, see paragraph (h) of this section for authorization to change the method of pooling in certain specified cases.

Business Operations

For each subsequent year, you calculate a new cost index based on the year’s percentage change in the price index. You then apply the cost indexes to each year’s ending inventory to figure end-of-year inventory in base-year dollars — each year of increase creates a new LIFO layer. By reinflating and adding the annual constant-dollar changes to base-year ending inventory cost, you derive the cost of your current ending inventory. Under the simplified transition method, the Commissioner will recompute the LIFO value of each dollar-value pool as of the beginning of the year of change using the double-extension IPIC method or the link-chain IPIC method. The adjustment under section 481 is equal to the difference between the recomputed LIFO value and the LIFO value of the pool determined under the taxpayer’s former method. The base-year cost of the items in a dollar-value pool at the end of a taxable year will be determined by dividing the IPI computed for the taxable year into the current-year cost of the items in that pool determined in accordance with paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section.

The base-year cost of the layers in a dollar-value pool at the beginning of the year of change must be restated in terms of new base-year cost using the year of change as the new base year and, if applicable, the indexes for the previously determined layers must be recomputed accordingly. The recomputed indexes will be used to determine the LIFO value of subsequent liquidations. For purposes of computing an IPI under paragraph (e)(3)(iii)(E) of this section, the IPI for the immediately https://turbo-tax.org/deduction-of-higher-ed-expensess/ preceding year is 1.00. A taxpayer must allocate this new total base-year cost to each layer based on the ratio of the old base-year cost of the layer to the old total base-year cost of the dollar-value pool. Whether the number and the composition of the pools used by the taxpayer is appropriate, as well as the propriety of all computations incidental to the use of such pools, will be determined in connection with the examination of the taxpayer’s income tax returns.

The rules in this paragraph (h) do not apply to a transaction entered into with the principal purpose to avail the transferee of a method of accounting that would be unavailable to the transferor (or would be unavailable to the transferor without securing consent from the Commissioner). In determining the principal purpose of a transfer, consideration will be given to all of the facts and circumstances. Inventory is deemed acquired in a bargain purchase if the actual cost of the inventory (or, if appropriate, the allocated cost of the inventory) was less than or equal to 50 percent of the replacement cost of physically identical inventory. Inventory is not considered acquired in a bargain purchase if the actual cost of the inventory (or, if appropriate, the allocated cost of the inventory) was greater than or equal to 75 percent of the replacement cost of physically identical inventory. The 10 percent method of assigning items in a dollar-value pool to BLS categories is a method of accounting. In addition, a taxpayer’s selection of a BLS category for a specific item is a method of accounting.