what is the difference between current tax and deferred tax 
current tax is tax payable while deferred tax is intended to be paid in the future the bottom linethe income tax a company owes to tax authorities may not be the same as the total tax expense reported in its financial statement this discrepancy can happen often and is caused by contrasting income recognition standards between tax and accounting laws the upshot is deferred income tax which is presented as a liability on balance sheets and represents tax that must be paid in the future 