19. Income tax

a) In accordance with the MITL, the Company and its Mexican subsidiaries are subject to income tax and each files its tax returns on an individual entity basis and the related tax results are included in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The income tax is computed taking into consideration the taxable and deductible effects of inflation, such as depreciation calculated on restated assets values. Taxable income is increased or reduced by the effects of inflation on certain monetary assets and liabilities through the annual inflation adjustment.

(i)

Based on the approved law, corporate income tax rate for 2018 and thereafter is 30%.

(ii)

The tax rules include limits in the deductions of the exempt compensation amount certain items, as follows: Wages and benefits paid to workers 47% of income paid to workers and in certain cases up to 53% (holiday bonus, savings fund, employee profit sharing, seniority premiums) will be deductible for employers. As a result, certain wage and salary provisions have difference between tax and book values at year-end.

(iii)

The MITL sets forth criteria and limits for applying some deductions, such as: the deduction of payments which, in turn, are exempt income for workers, contributions for creating or increasing provisions for pension funds, contributions to the Mexican Institute of Social Security payable by the worker that are paid by the employer, as well as the possible non-deduction of payments made to related parties in the event of failing to meet certain requirements.

(iv)

Taxable income for purposes of the employee profit sharing is the same used for the Corporate Income Tax except for certain items.

(v)

A 10% withholding tax is imposed on dividends distributions to individuals and foreign shareholders from earnings generated starting January 1, 2014.

The income tax rates for 2018, 2017 and 2016 in Guatemala and Costa Rica are 25% and 30%, respectively.

b) For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Company reported on a consolidated basis taxable income of Ps.777,513, Ps.171,046 and Ps.2,702,355, respectively, which was partially offset by tax losses from prior years.

In accordance with the MITL and Costa Rican Income Tax Law (CRITL), tax losses may be carried forward against taxable income generated in the succeeding ten and three years, respectively. Carryforward tax losses are restated based on inflation.

c) An analysis of consolidated income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 is as follows:

Consolidated statements of operations


	2018			2017			2016
Current year income tax expense	Ps.	(232,824)		Ps.	(51,313)		Ps.	(706,244)
Deferred income tax benefit (expense)		471,060	*		212,488	**		(750,938)	***
Total income tax benefit (expense)	Ps.	238,236		Ps.	161,175		Ps.	(1,457,182)

*Includes translation effect by Ps.2,683

**Includes translation effect by Ps.1,008

***Includes translation effect by Ps.1,242

Consolidated statements of OCI


	2018		2017		2016
Deferred tax related to items recognized in OCI during the year
Net gain (loss) on cash flow hedges	Ps.	85,107	Ps.	12,017	Ps.	(187,408)
Remeasurement (loss) gain of employee benefits		(1,797)		533		132
Deferred tax charged to OCI	Ps.	83,310	Ps.	12,550	Ps.	(187,276)

d) A reconciliation of the statutory corporate income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate for financial reporting purposes is as follows:


	2018		2017		2016
Statutory income tax rate	30.00	%	30.00	%	30.00	%
Non-deductible expenses	(3.53)	%	(3.90)	%	0.28	%
Unrecorded deferred taxes on tax losses	(5.56)	%	(14.55)	%	0.09	%
Foreign countries difference with Mexican statutory rate	(0.02)	%	(0.32)	%	0.04	%
Inflation of tax losses	1.79	%	1.50	%	(0.01)	%
Amendment tax return effects and other tax adjustments	(0.08)	%	(0.31)	%	(0.11)	%
Inflation on furniture, intangible and equipment	2.91	%	4.91	%	(0.38)	%
Annual inflation adjustment	0.36	%	4.00	%	(0.63)	%
	25.87	%	21.33	%	29.28	%

Mexican income tax matters

For Mexican purposes, corporate income tax is computed on accrued basis. MITL requires taxable profit to be determined by considering revenue net of tax deductions. Prior years’ tax losses can be utilized to offset current year taxable income. Income tax is determined by applying the 30% rate on the net amount after tax losses utilization.

For tax purposes, income is considered taxable at the earlier of: (i) the time the revenue is collected, (ii) the service is provided or (iii) the time of the issuance of the invoice. Expenses are deductible for tax purposes generally on accrual basis, with some exceptions, once the requirements established in the tax law are fulfilled.

Central America (Guatemala and Costa Rica)

According to Guatemala Corporate Income tax law, under the regime on profits from business activities, net operating losses cannot offset taxable income in prior or future years. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company obtained a net operating income.

According to Costa Rica Corporate Income tax law, under the regime on profits from business activities, net operating losses can offset taxable income in a term of three years. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Company generated net operating losses for an amount of Ps.170,731, Ps.300,613 and Ps.57,414, respectively, for which no deferred tax asset has been recognized.

e) An analysis of consolidated deferred taxes is as follows:


	2018				2017				2016
	Consolidated				Consolidated				Consolidated
	statement of		Consolidated		statement of		Consolidated		statement of		Consolidated
	financial		statement of		financial		statement of		financial		statement of
	position		operations		position		operations		position		operations
Deferred income tax assets:
Intangible	Ps.	460,590	Ps.	(2,621)	Ps.	463,211	Ps.	(18,415)	Ps.	481,626	Ps.	(16,637)
Provisions		324,445		(27,544)		351,989		8,695		343,294		56,727
Tax losses available for offsetting against future taxable income		309,320		(33,762)		343,082		309,758		33,324		(25,030)
Extension lease agreement		149,305		6,170		143,135		41,411		101,724		25,405
Unearned transportation revenue		735,355		699,414		35,941		(29,814)		65,755		7,039
Allowance for doubtful accounts		4,902		(2,422)		7,324		433		6,891		(2,179)
Employee benefits		5,446		1,456		5,786		1,222		4,031		886
Employee profit sharing		4,493		1,777		2,716		(490)		3,206		158
Financial instruments		35,955		—		(49,151)		—		(61,168)		—
		2,029,811		642,468		1,304,033		312,800		978,683		46,369
Deferred income tax liabilities:
Supplemental rent		1,595,519		32,156		1,563,363		223,753		1,339,610		363,783
Rotable spare parts, furniture and equipment, net		645,024		168,107		476,917		108,890		368,027		103,926
Prepaid expenses and other assets		170,466		(25,686)		196,152		(239,586)		435,738		280,660
Inventories		88,895		726		88,169		15,286		72,883		23,979
Other prepayments		32,057		(1,212)		33,269		(7,023)		40,292		23,717
		2,531,961		174,091		2,357,870		101,320		2,256,550		796,065
	Ps.	(502,150)	Ps.	468,377	Ps.	(1,053,837)	Ps.	211,480	Ps.	(1,277,867)	Ps.	(749,696)


	2018		2017		2016
Reflected in the consolidated statement of financial position as follows:
Deferred tax assets	Ps.	593,302	Ps.	562,445	Ps.	559,083
Deferred tax liabilities		(1,095,452)		(1,616,282)		(1,836,950)
Deferred tax liability, net	Ps.	(502,150)	Ps.	(1,053,837)	Ps.	(1,277,867)

A reconciliation of deferred tax liability, net is as follows:


	2018		2017		2016
Opening balance as of January 1,	Ps.	(1,053,837)	Ps.	(1,277,867)	Ps.	(340,895)
Deferred income tax benefit (expense) during the current year recorded on profits		468,377		211,480		(749,696)
Deferred income tax benefit (expense) during the current year recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)		83,310		12,550		(187,276)
Closing balance as of December 31,	Ps.	(502,150)	Ps.	(1,053,837)	Ps.	(1,277,867)

At December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the table shown above includes deferred income tax asset recognized by Concesionaria and Operaciones Volaris (2018), Comercializadora (2017) for tax losses carry-forwards to the extent that the realization of the related tax benefit through future taxable profits is probable. The Company offsets tax assets and liabilities if and only if it has a legally enforceable right to set off current tax assets and current tax liabilities and the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities relate to income taxes levied by the same tax authority.

According to IAS 12, Income Taxes, a deferred tax asset should be recognized for the carry-forward of available tax losses to the extent that it is probable that future taxable income will be available against which the available tax losses can be utilized. In this regards, the Company has recognized at December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 a deferred tax asset for tax losses of Ps.309,320, Ps.343,082 and Ps.33,324 respectively.

During 2017, the Company recognized a deferred tax asset for the carry-forward of available tax losses of Concesionaria, Comercializadora and Operaciones Volaris, based on the positive evidence of the Company to generate taxable profit related to the same taxation authority against which the available tax losses can be utilized before they expire. Positive evidence includes Concesionaria’s actions to increase its aircraft fleet in the following years, increase in flight frequencies, and routes, inside and outside of Mexico; the profit of Comercializadora and Operaciones Volaris, respectively, is derived directly from Concesionaria’s operations.

An analysis of the available tax losses carry-forward of the Company at December 31, 2018 is as follows:


Year	Historical		Restated				Total remaining		Year of
of loss	Loss		tax loss		Utilized		amount		expiration
2016	Ps.	57,414	Ps.	57,414	Ps.	—	Ps.	57,414	2019
2016		52,221		57,215		57,215		—	2026
2017		300,613		300,613		—		300,613	2020
2017		1,068,498		1,150,140		122,359		1,027,781	2027
2018		170,731		170,731		—		170,731	2021
2018		3,191		3,290		—		3,290	2028
	Ps.	1,652,668	Ps.	1,739,403	Ps.	179,574	Ps.	1,559,829

A breakdown of available tax loss carry-forward of Controladora and its subsidiaries at December 31, 2018 is as follows:


	Historical		Restated				Total
	loss		tax loss		Utilized		remaining amount
Comercializadora	Ps.	52,221	Ps.	57,215	Ps.	57,215	Ps.	—
Concesionaria		1,067,836		1,149,425		122,359		1,027,066
Operaciones Volaris		3,853		4,005		—		4,005
Vuela Aviación		528,758		528,758		—		528,758
	Ps.	1,652,668	Ps.	1,739,403	Ps.	179,574	Ps.	1,559,829
Unrecognized NOLs								(528,758)
							Ps.	1,031,071
Tax rate								30	%
Deferred income tax							Ps.	309,320

f) At December 31, 2018 the Company had the following tax balances:


	2018
Restated contributed capital account (Cuenta de capital de aportación or “CUCA”)	Ps.	3,917,548
CUFIN*		3,107,037

*The calculation comprises all the subsidiaries of the Company.