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Glite Dictionary
to carry back

to carry back

8.8
Subtract a loss or unused tax credit from the previous year's taxable income to reduce tax for that year
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈkæri bæk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : deducir pérdidas
  • The rules provide for the credits to be carried back for three years and forward for ten, which is actually more generous than Canada's loss carry-forward rules.

Examples

  • Companies often find relief by allowing them to carry back losses from previous years to reduce their tax bills.

  • The general rule is that if an individual receives compensation in the year after the year in which it was earned, it may be carried back to that year if there is capacity in that year for additional exclusion.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The Internal Revenue Code allows a taxpayer to "carry back" net operating losses from a business from the current year to the immediately preceding years.

    Academic text (2002)

  • A casualty loss to your business property may produce a net operating loss (NOL) that can be carried back to offset income in certain previous years.

    Blog text (1)

  • If your business incurs a significant loss, the IRS permits you to carry back that loss to offset income from prior tax years.

  • Many startups are eligible to carry back their net operating losses to get refunds on taxes paid in earlier profitable years.

Antonyms

to carry forward
  • Specialized
4 3.7

To move something unused from one period to the next so it can still be used

Surface Forms

carry back infinitive
carried back past
carried back past participle
carrying back present participle
carries back third person singular

Morphology

carry + back

The general notion of 'moving or transferring something to an earlier time' is directly suggested by 'carry' (move/transfer) + 'back' (to a prior period), so learners can infer the broad idea of moving losses/credits to a previous year. However, the specific tax/legal nuance that this involves deducting from taxable income in a prior period is specialized and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, making it only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Carry back: The accounting phrase carry back comes from the simple image of carry (move) and back (to an earlier year), where you take a business 'loss' and move it into a previous year. So, carry back means to move a loss into a past year to 'lower taxes' for that year.