Final answer:
True, publicly traded companies are required to disclose all components of their deferred tax assets and liabilities, as per accounting standards specifying the need for detailed tax-related disclosures in the financial statements.
Step-by-step explanation:
The answer to the question, "True or False: A publicly traded company must disclose all of the components of its deferred tax assets and liabilities in a footnote to the financial statements," is True. According to accounting standards, specifically ASC 740 (formerly known as FAS 109), public companies are required to disclose detailed information concerning deferred tax assets and liabilities. This includes the nature and amount of deferred tax assets and liabilities, a description of temporary differences, and the types of events that could potentially affect these balances.
Moreover, companies must provide an explanation of the items that create the difference between the reported amount of income taxes and the expected amount of taxes at the statutory rate, which is known as the effective tax reconciliation. In practice, this information can be found in the footnotes of the financial statements, where more detailed explanations are provided, complementing the figures presented in the statements themselves.