Discussion of Did the FASB's Simplification Initiative Increase Errors in Analysts' Implied ETR Forecasts? Evidence from Early Adoption of ASU 2016-09

In "Did the FASB's Simplification Initiative Increase Errors in Analysts' Implied ETR Forecasts? Evidence from Early Adoption of ASU 2016-09," Brushwood et al. (2018) study the effect of a recent accounting standard change on the financial reporting of the tax benefits associated with stock option exercises. The results are interpreted as evidence that the predictability of income tax expense declined for some firms that early adopted this accounting change. In this paper, I discuss the contributions that the manuscript makes to the literature and outline some considerations related to the interpretation of the results presented.