Is Income Tax withholding an Asset or an Expense ??

[Neil]

On Sun, 2003-03-02 at 12:36, David wrote:
> My salary (and some other income) has US and State income taxes
> withheld.
> 
> This year I want to set up my gnucash accounts to show my gross salary
> and the deductions.  But it seems to make sense to show my income tax
> liability as a liability, and the tax withholdings as an asset
> (deducted from the paycheck to a Tax Prepaid 2003 asset account.)
> 
> Any estimated tax payments would go into the same Tax Prepaid 2003 account.
> 
> Then when I do my tax return the asset account would transfer to the
> tax liability account, with the surplus coming back into my bank
> account, hopefully as a refund check (or an extra payment to the government.

David,

For what it's worth (IANAA), I do exactly what you describe.  The only
downside is that it distorts the reports (they don't capture the fact
that a 'liability' is accruing).  I have no experience yet in 
using/customizing the reports, so there may be some way around this.

-- 
Neil <nnc at newmexico.com>