ABSTRACT
It is thus natural that taxpayers will seek to present a minimal picture of their taxable earnings in a given fiscal year, and this may be done, inter alia, by “deferring” the recognition of income or by “advancing” the recognition of deductions. For the same reason, it is natural that tax authorities adopt the opposite strategy: maximizing taxable earnings in any given year. Consequently, tax authorities will be inclined to advance the timing at which income is recognized for calculating taxable earnings, or to defer the timing at which the deductions that reduce earnings for tax purposes may be allowed.
