On 1 July 2018, Parent Ltd acquired all the shares of Son Ltd, on a cum-div. basis, for $2,057,000. At this date, the equity of Son Ltd consisted of:

Share capital 500 000 shares $ 1,000,000

Retained earnings 500,000

Son Ltd also reported a dividend payable of $100,000 and a recorded goodwill of $50, 000 at the acquisition date. The dividend payable was subsequently paid in September 2018.

At the acquisition date, all the identifiable assets and liabilities of Son Ltd were recorded at amounts equal to fair value except for the following:

	Carrying amount	Fair value
Inventory	40,000	50,000
Plant (cost $500 000)	300 000	350,000

Of the inventory on hand in Son Ltd at 1 July 2018, 60 percent was sold in August 2018 and the remainder was sold in June 2019. It was estimated that the plant has a further 5-year life with zero residual value.

Son Ltd was involved in a court case that could potentially result in the company paying damages to customers. At the acquisition date, Parent Ltd calculated the fair value of this liability to be $50,000, even though Son Ltd had not recorded any provision for damages (liability). On 29 June 2020 Son Ltd reassessed the liability in relation to the court case as the chance of winning the case had improved. The fair value on 29 June 2020 was considered to be $30,000.

The company applies the partial goodwill method. The income tax rate is 30%.

During the period 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2020, the following intragroup transactions have occurred between Parent Ltd and Son Ltd:

(T1) On 1 January 2019, Parent Ltd acquired furniture for $100,000 from Son Ltd. The furniture had originally cost Son Ltd $150,000 and had a carrying amount at the time of sale of $80,000. The sale was made on credit. At 30 June 2019, $60,000 was outstanding. At 30 June 2020, $20,000 was still not paid and outstanding. Both entities apply depreciation on a straight-line basis. At 1 January 2019, the furniture had a further five years of useful life, with zero residual value.

(T2) On 1 March 2019, Son Ltd sold inventory costing $12,000 to Parent Ltd for $16,000. On 1 October 2019, Parent Ltd sold half of these inventory items back to Son Ltd for $6,000. Of the remaining inventory kept by Parent Ltd, half was sold in March 2020 to Dingo Ltd at a profit of $400.

The adjusting consolidation entries at 30 June 2019 for the last intragroup transaction (T2) is provided below.

Sales revenue	Dr	16 000
Cost of sales	Cr		12 000
Inventory	Cr		4 000
Deferred tax asset (30%)	Dr	1 200
Income tax expense	Cr		1 200

Critically analyze the accounting treatment of acquisition related costs in a business combination. For your critical analysis, you could compare with how acquisition related costs are accounted for when a company purchases property plant and equipment. [word limit: 150 words]