PSIA Accounting Practice Test

Deferred tax liabilities come from timing differences between how items are recorded for accounting purposes and how they’re taxed, differences that will reverse over time and cause higher tax payments in the future. When the accounting books recognize more expense (or revenue) earlier than the tax rules allow, current taxes can be lower, but the reversal of that difference will push higher taxes later. A common example is depreciation: if tax rules grant bigger depreciation in early years while the books use a slower method, you reduce current taxes but eventually owe more as the difference reverses. That future tax obligation is what a deferred tax liability represents. So, the statement that you will pay more cash taxes in the future best defines a DTL. The other options describe current tax payable, a potential tax refund, or a different concept altogether (a liability versus an asset or a refund).