Carry forward previous year's losses to previous year's gains?

Good day, I will be submitting a filing to HMRC for undisclosed crypto capital gains from 20/21. Gains for previous years are as follows: 17/18 - loss of £1,500 18/19 - loss of £1,300 19/20 - gain of £1,000 20/21 - gain of £26,000 When submitting my tax declaration of 20/21, can I offset the losses from 17/18 and 18/19 (i.e. £1,500 and £1,300) from my gain of £26,000? So in actual fact my gain for 20/21 would be £26,000 - £1,500 - £1,300 = £23,200? Many thanks

Hi,

You have 4 years from the end of a tax year, to claim losses on income or capital gains and this must be done in writing, when not claimed in a tax return. Where the 4 years have elapsed and losses have not been claimed, it is then too late to claim for them.  

When completing your tax return to declare the gain, please include separately, a claim for losses for those earlier years, along with supporting evidence, such as calculations. This will need to be reviewed separately from your tax return, to ensure that they are allowable. You can see guidance on losses here: 

HS227 Losses (2024)

Thank you.

Dear HMRC, Thank you for your response. I have taken this upagain with my accountant, and the feedback I received was as follows: "The answer you refer to is when the return has not been filed and you want to use prior losses after the four years when not claimed in a tax return. In this case we will be filing the tax returns with the losses in of which will be carried forward. I have completed this multiple times. If we were not to file the 17/18 return then the losses cannot be used for the 20/21 return." Is the account correct? If I file my tax return for 17/18 now in June 2024, can I carry a capital loss forward? Thanks

Hi, not a HMRC Admin but your accountant is woefully incorrect. You can only self assess for 4 years from the end of the tax year. So I'm not sure why your accountant thinks they can file self assessments for the out of date years. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/section/34A But there is also a 4 year time limit on making claims (such as CGT losses). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1970/9/section/43

Hi anderssummers,
Where a tax return is not being used to declare losses, then the claim for losses must be in writing to
H.M. Revenue and Customs
Self Assessment
BX9 1AS
and include supporting evidence.  
Your claim for losses will be reviewed by a technical tax inspector and if agreed, can be carried forward.  
The four year rule on claiming losses still applies in this situation.
Thank you.