Markov Manufacturing recently spent $15 million to purchase some equipment used in the manufacture of disk drives. The firm expects that this equipment will have a useful life of five years, and its marginal corporate tax rate is 21%. The company plans to use straight-line depreciation. Complete the steps below using cell references to given data or previous calculations. In some cases, a simple cell reference is all you need. To copy/paste a formula across a row or down a column, an absolute cell reference or a mixed cell reference may be preferred. If a specific Excel function is to be used, the directions will specify the use of that function. Do not type in numerical data into a cell or function. Instead, make a reference to the cell in which the data is found. Make your computations only in the blue cells highlighted below. In all cases, unless otherwise directed, use the earliest appearance of the data in your formulas, usually the Given Data section. a. What is the annual depreciation expense associated with this equipment? b. What is the annual depreciation tax shield? c. Rather than straight-line depreciation, suppose Markov will use the MACRS depreciation method for the fiveyear life of the property. Calculate the depreciation tax shield each year for this equipment under this accelerated depreciation schedule. d. If Markov has a choice between straight-line and MACRS depreciation schedules, and its marginal corporate tax rate is expected to remain constant, which schedule should it choose? Why? e. How might your answer to part (d) change if Markov anticipates that its marginal corporate tax rate will increase substantially over the next five years? a. What is the annual depreciation expense associated with this equipment? Depreciation (million) b. What is the annual depreciation tax shield? Tax shield (million) c. Rather than straight-line depreciation, suppose Markov will use the MACRS depreciation method for the fiveyear life of the property. Calculate the depreciation tax shield each year for this equipment under this accelerated depreciation schedule. MACRS Depreciation (million) Year \begin{tabular}{ll} \multicolumn{1}{l}{015.000} \\ \hline \end{tabular} 1 2 3 4 5 Equipment Cost Depreciation Rate Depreciation Expense Depreciation Tax Shield d. If Markov has a choice between straight-line and MACRS depreciation schedules, and its marginal corporate tax rate is expected to remain constant, which schedule should it choose? Why? Markov should prefer: depreciation. It leads to: NPV. e. How might your answer to part (d) change if Markov anticipates that its marginal corporate tax rate will increase substantially over the next five years? Markov may be better off claiming: depreciation expenses in later years