Get 2012 Publication 536 - Efile

As a part of the state's 2020-2021 budget, California suspended the use of NOLs for taxable years 2020 through 2022.

If your deductions for the year are more than your income for the year, you may have a net operating loss (NOL). Publication 536 covers NOLs for individuals, estates and trusts: How to figure an NOL.

The Act included a provision limiting net operating losses (NOL) incurred after Dec. 31, 2017, to 80% of taxable income rather than the historical 100%. This change was overshadowed by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and eventually was delayed to tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2020.

A net operating loss (NOL) occurs when a company's allowable deductions exceed its taxable income within a tax period. The NOL can generally be used to offset a company's tax payments in other tax periods through an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax provision called a loss carryforward.

How It Works. The rules state that the amount of the NOL is limited to 80% of the excess of taxable income without respect to any § 199A (QBI), § 250 (GILTI), or the NOL. For example: In this example, tax is paid on $20,000 of income even though there was an NOL carryover more than the current year's income.

Generally, if you have an NOL for a tax year ending in 2012, you must carry back the entire amount of the NOL to the 2 tax years before the NOL year (the carryback period), and then carry forward any remaining NOL for up to 20 years after the NOL year (the carryforward period).

At the federal level, businesses can carry forward their net operating losses indefinitely, but the deductions are limited to 80 percent of taxable income.