DEFERRED TAX ASSET

Asset on a company’s balance sheet that can be used to reduce the income tax expense.

It can arise due to net loss carryovers, which are only recorded as assets if it is deemed more likely than not that the asset will be used in future fiscal periods. It must be determined that there is more than a 50% probability that the company will have positive accounting income in the next fiscal period before the deferred tax asset can be applied.