AccruedIncomeTaxesCurrentTaxesPayableCurrentAccruedIncomeTaxesNoncurrentAccrued taxes are taxes a company owes for periods already completed but has not yet paid as of the balance-sheet date. The balance is mainly income taxes currently due to federal, state, and foreign governments, and may also include sales, payroll, property, and excise taxes the company has incurred or collected but not yet remitted.
Accrued taxes are a current liability when payment is due within a year. They represent tax actually owed now. Deferred tax liabilities, by contrast, are taxes expected to become payable in future years because of timing differences between book and tax accounting.
Income taxes are accounted for under ASC 740. Each period, a company estimates the income tax it owes on that period's taxable income and records the unpaid portion as a liability. In XBRL filings, currently due income taxes are tagged AccruedIncomeTaxesCurrent. A broader line that also covers sales, payroll, property, and other taxes is tagged TaxesPayableCurrent. Income tax amounts not due for more than a year, such as a liability for an uncertain tax position or a tax payable in installments, are tagged AccruedIncomeTaxesNoncurrent.
Regulation S-X Rule 5-02.20 lists taxes among the items that must be broken out of other current liabilities when they exceed 5 percent of total current liabilities, and it asks the company to identify the current portion of deferred income taxes. Smaller tax balances are often folded into accrued liabilities rather than shown on their own line.
The balance is shaped by the timing of estimated tax payments, which is why it can swing between quarters without any change in profitability. Some taxes, such as sales tax and payroll tax withholdings, are collected on behalf of governments, so they pass through the company rather than being expenses of it. Analysts compare income tax expense on the income statement with cash taxes paid and with the change in accrued taxes. A persistent gap between tax expense and taxes paid points to deferred taxes, credits, or unresolved positions worth reading about in the tax footnote.
A: Accrued taxes are owed for the current or past periods and will be paid soon. Deferred taxes arise when book income and taxable income recognize items in different years, and they reverse over future periods.
A: Income taxes payable is the main component. Accrued taxes can be broader, also covering sales, payroll, property, and excise taxes that the company owes or has collected but not yet remitted.
A: Companies pay estimated taxes on a schedule, so the liability builds between payment dates and drops after each payment. Quarterly movements often reflect that timing rather than a change in the tax burden.
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