Hacker News Reader

This is incorrect. Fiscal years have nothing to do with when you pay tax. They're pretty much totally arbitrary, with different companies using different values.

To demonstrate: The earnings Microsoft reported for this same quarter (calendar Q1 2024) a month ago were reported as their Q3 2024 fiscal year results. Apple's were fiscal Q2 2024. Google's were fiscal Q1 2024.

View on HN

> A fiscal year is a 12-month period chosen by a company or government to coincide with planning, budgeting, or revenue cycles.

> Financial reports, external audits, and federal tax filings are based on a company's fiscal year.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fiscalyear.asp

Yes, your link also explains that there's no single fiscal year, and every company just chooses to define it however they want.

And while the fiscal year affects when the company needs to file a tax return, that's not when the company pays taxes which is what the GP claimed. They make estimated payments continuously, once per quarter.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com