Final answer:
The correct deferred tax journal entry at the end of year 2 is to debit Income Tax Expense and credit Deferred Tax Liability by the change in deferred taxes attributable to that year, which is $4,000.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question pertains to the calculation of deferred taxes in accounting. With Baskin's pretax accounting income in year 2 being $100,000 and rental payments received in advance and taxed in the year of receipt, there is a timing difference between the tax and accounting treatment of this income.
Given that $50,000 was received in years 1 and 2, and will be recognized for financial purposes as $25,000 in years 3 and 4, this leads to a future taxable amount when the rent is recognized in the financial statements. At an income tax rate of 40%, the total deferred tax created by this timing difference is $20,000 (i.e. $50,000 total recognized for tax purposes - $0 recognized for financial purposes) * 40% = $8,000. Since the question specifies end of year 2 and we are only considering the change within year 2, we look at the rent received in year 2 only: $30,000 * 40% = $12,000. However, $2,000 was already acknowledged in year 1 ($20,000 * 40% = $8,000), so the net increase in the deferred tax liability in year 2 is $12,000 - $8,000 = $4,000.
Therefore, the correct journal entry to record the deferred tax at the end of year 2 would increase the deferred tax liability and the income tax expense, corresponding to option (c), which can be stated as 'Debit: Income Tax Expense, $4,000; Credit: Deferred Tax Liability, $4,000'.