President Obama signed the “Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009” on November 6, 2009. Among other things, the new law expands the net operating loss carryback rules so that virtually all taxpayers can elect to carryback 2008 and 2009 NOLs for up to five years.

A net operating loss (“NOL”) generally means the amount by which a taxpayer’s business deductions exceed its gross income. In general, an NOL may be carried back two years and carried over 20 years to offset taxable income in those years.