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| Net Operating Loss - NOL |
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A period in which a company's allowable tax deductions are greater than its taxable income, resulting in a negative taxable income. This generally occurs when a company has incurred more expenses than revenues during the period.
The net operating loss for the company can generally be used to recover past tax payments or reduce future tax payments. The reasoning behind this is that because corporations are required to pay taxes when it earns money, it deserves some form of tax relief when it loses money.
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If a company has a net operating loss, it can apply this tax relief in two ways or a through a combination of both. The company can apply the net operating loss to their past tax payments and receive a tax credit. It could also apply the net operating loss to future income tax payments, reducing payments they need to make in future periods. The terms of the tax relief and how it can be applied varies by jurisdiction but usually the NOL can be applied to the past few years (2-3) and much more to the future (7-10) years.
This term is really just fancy jargon for the company losing money. It makes sense that you should have to pay tax before you get "out of the hole". For example, say you lose $1 million in your first year of business and make $5 million the next year. It wouldn't be fair for you to have to pay tax on a profit of $5 million, because you are really only ahead by $4 million ($5 million profit - the $1 million loss).
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