Alternative Tax Net Operating Loss - ATNOL

First, a brief aside about the alternative minimum tax. The AMT is a separate set of tax calculations that apply to some people and companies under certain circumstances. Basically, if certain conditions are in place (we don't need to go into them here), the AMT provides a separate set of formulas to figure out how much income tax a person or company owes.

The alternative tax net operating loss is the answer to one of these other formulas that apply when the AMT gets used. Hence the "alternative tax" part. Meanwhile, "net operating loss" means what it says. If a company has lost money for a period of time after leaving out certain stuff, it has a "net operating loss."

The ATNOL has different rules about what gets included in the net operating loss compared to the standard tax calculations. Basically, the types of things deducted or excluded from the formula is different.