Your Guide to Bond Taxes

The format of the journal entry for amortization of the bond discount is the same under either method of amortization – only the amounts recorded in each period will change. To illustrate the discount on bonds payable, let’s assume that a complete guide to california payroll taxes in early December 2021 a corporation prepares a 9% $100,000 bond dated January 1, 2022. The interest payments of $4,500 ($100,000 x 9% x 6/12) will be required on each June 30 and December 31 until the bond matures on December 31, 2026.

The net result is a total recognized amount of interest expense over the life of the bond that is greater than the amount of interest actually paid to investors. The amount recognized equates to the market rate of interest on the date when the bonds were sold. The effective interest method of amortizing the discount to interest expense calculates the interest expense using the carrying value of the bonds and the market rate of interest at the time the bonds were issued. For the first interest payment, the interest expense is $469 ($9,377 carrying value × 10% market interest rate × 6/ 12 semiannual interest). The semiannual interest paid to bondholders on Dec. 31 is $450 ($10,000 maturity amount of bond × 9% coupon interest rate × 6/ 12 for semiannual payment). The $19 difference between the $469 interest expense and the $450 cash payment is the amount of the discount amortized.

Discount on Bonds Payable with Straight-Line Amortization

Bonds represent an obligation to repay a principal amount at a future date and pay interest, usually on a semi‐annual basis. Unlike notes payable, which normally represent an amount owed to one lender, a large number of bonds are normally issued at the same time to different lenders. These lenders, also known as investors, may sell their bonds to another investor prior to their maturity.

In this case, the corporation is offering a 12% interest rate, or a payment of $6,000 every six months, when other companies are offering an 11% interest rate, or a payment of $5,500 every six months. As a result, the corporation will pay out $60,000 in interest over the five-year term. Comparable bonds on the market will pay out $55,000 over this same time frame. In this case, the corporation is offering an 11% interest rate, or a payment of $5,500 every six months, when other companies are offering a 12% interest rate, or a payment of $6,000 every six months. As a result, the corporation will pay out $55,000 in interest over the five-year term.

To be competitive and still attract investors, the bond must be issued at a discount. This means the corporation receives less cash than the face amount of the bond when it issues the bond. The corporation still pays the full face amount back to the bondholders on the maturity date.

Company will discount to attract investors when the coupon rate is lower than the market rate. The quick answer, without covering how the discount arises or the method of amortisation, is the journal entry requires a debit to the interest expense account and a credit to the discount on bonds payable account. If you would like to know a bit more of what is involved … please read on. The bonds have a term of five years, so that is the period over which ABC must amortize the discount. Over the life of the bonds, the $2,000 discount would be gradually amortized to Interest Expense, thus increasing the total interest cost of the bonds for ABC Corporation. The Discount on Bonds Payable balance decreases over time until it reaches $0 when the bonds mature.

• It is important to understand the nature of the Discount on Bonds Payable account.
• If a bond is purchased at a discount or premium however, interest should be recorded differently.
• On the issuer’s balance sheet, Bonds Payable are recorded as long-term liabilities, emphasizing the long-term nature of the financial obligation.
• That is similar to paying more than carrying amount to redeem a bond, and that is a loss.
• Because of the lower coupon rate, investors require a discount to purchase these bonds, and the bonds are sold for $98,000.

Since the total interest payments are equal, the corporation’s bond is competitive with other bonds on the market and the bond can be issued at face amount. If the prevailing market interest rate is above the stated rate, bonds will be issued at a discount. Conversely, if the prevailing interest rate is below the stated rate, bonds will be issued at a premium. Discount on bonds payable occurs when a bond’s stated interest rate is less than the bond market’s interest rate. Bonds not purchased at par are purchased either above par, at a premium, or below, at a discount. Specifically, zero-coupon bonds (bonds that do not pay regular interest payments) are a type of bond offered at a discount.

Bonds Issued at a Discount Example: Carr

Investors contribute cash to the business and are issued stock in return to recognize their shares of ownership. The effective-interest method is conceptually preferable, and accounting pronouncements require its use unless there is no material difference in the periodic amortization between it and the straight-line method. Based on this effective rate, the bonds would be issued at a price of 92.976, or $92,976. Unless you’re buying a bond at issue and holding it to maturity, the tax rules for bond proceeds can get complicated pretty quickly.

Accounting Terms: W

Let’s say you purchase an airline ticket from Atlanta to San Francisco for $400. While in flight, you learn that the person sitting next to you paid $250 for the same flight. You would probably feel badly and a little cheated for having paid too much. That is similar to paying more than carrying amount to redeem a bond, and that is a loss. As with the sale of fixed assets or investments, it is important to note that any gain or loss when bonds are repaid early is incurred on a transaction that is outside of what occurs in normal business operations.

Issuing of a Bond

For example, if a company issues a bond with a face value of $1,000 for $950, it would record a “Discount on Bonds Payable” of $50. Over time, this $50 would be amortized and recognized as interest expense, thereby increasing the total interest expense the company recognizes over the life of the bond. Investors are attracted to Bonds Payable for their relative safety compared to equities, as they offer a fixed income and are often considered less volatile.

Comparable bonds on the market will pay out $60,000 over this same time frame. A basic rule of thumb suggests that investors should look to buy premium bonds when rates are low and discount bonds when rates are high. Because premium bonds typically provide higher coupon payments, the biggest risk is that they could be called before the stated maturity date. The entries made here would be debits to Cash for $25 and Investment in Bonds for $5, and then a credit to Interest Income for the sum, which would be $30.

A corporation may borrow from many different smaller investors and collectively raise the amount of cash it needs. Corporate bonds are traded on the bond market similar to the way corporate stock is traded on the stock market. They are long- term liabilities for most of their life and only become current liabilities as of one year before their maturity date. The preferred method for amortizing the bond discount is the effective interest rate method or the effective interest method. Under the effective interest rate method the amount of interest expense in a given accounting period will correlate with the amount of a bond’s book value at the beginning of the accounting period.

4.8 Partial Redemptions

In other words, investors would demand a discount on the purchase price to compensate for the lower interest payments they would receive. When we are talking about a discount on bonds payable, we refer to the situation where the equivalent market interest rate for similar bonds is higher than the coupon rate of the bonds we are dealing with. As we need to prepare some journal entries and interest rates don’t equate to debits and credits. In the same transaction, you debit interest expense for $40,900 and credit interest payable or cash for $45,000. The recorded amount of interest expense is based on the interest rate stated on the face of the bond.