Financial & Managerial Accounting 3rd Edition by Charles Horngren,Harrison, Walter,Suzanne Oliver

Exercise 14

Western Bank Trust purchased land and a building for the lump sum of $3,000,000. To get the maximum tax deduction, Western allocated 90% of the purchase price to the building and only 10% to the land. A more realistic allocation would have been 70% to the building and 30% to the land.
Requirements
1. Explain the tax advantage of allocating too much to the building and too little to the land.
2. Was Western's allocation ethical If so, state why. If not, why not Identify who was harmed.