Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Elon Musk: And we started off that long ago that we were only making like 10 cars a week. And yeah, so where does it lead ultimately? With good execution, like I said, it’s not a slam dunk, but if we execute very well, I think Tesla could be the most valuable company in the world.

Martin Viecha: Thank you, Colin. Do you have a follow-up question?

Colin Langan: Yeah. Just a quick follow-up. In the commentary, you mentioned the taxes would go to the S&P 500 level. I think you’ve been trending slightly below 10%. S&P, I think, is typically 25%-ish. Is that going to — should we expect that to jump right up next year when we’re modeling next year or would it be like a gradual change over the next few years and any cash impact from that tax change as well that we should be considering?

Vaibhav Taneja: Yeah. So there’s no impact on cash taxes from the release of the valuation amounts, which I spoke about. What it does is, it’s how you account for taxes on your books? So it’s basically an accounting change wherein there are certain jurisdictions because we had enough NOLs, etc., wherein we didn’t have to accrue book taxes. Now that the valuation allowance has been released and we have recognized deferred tax assets on the books, that means your tax rate immediately goes up.

Martin Viecha: Okay. I think that’s all the time we have for today. Thank you so much for all of your questions, and we’ll speak to you again in three months. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Elon Musk: Thank you.