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Posted Fri, 19 May 2023 08:50:59 GMT by Sami
I am a sole trader and have been doing my accounts for around 8 years. I have always made a loss. It was my understanding that I could carry forward theses losses only for a certain amount of years due to there being a limitation on when the claim could be made - within the last 3 years. Because of this I have been summing up my carry forward amount in my self assessment form as being the last three years. I have found out that this is not accurate and I can claim the total for every year for doing the same trade. Is this true? and how can I fix my self assessment These are example numbers for simplicity: losses | carried forward 2014 - 2015 = 200 | 200 2015 - 2016 = 200 | 400 2016 - 2017 = 200 | 600 2017 - 2018 = 200 | 600 2018 - 2019 = 200 | 600 2019 - 2020 = 200 | 600 2020 - 2021 = 200 | 600 2021 - 2022 = 200 | 600 can I change the 2022 - 2023 amount to the total of my losses of £1600 or do I have to do something else? thanks for taking your time
Posted Wed, 24 May 2023 14:16:43 GMT by HMRC Admin 10
Hi
Your business losses can potentially be carried forward indefinitely, that is until the business ceases.  
Only the last 2 tax year allow for your tax return to be amended (21/22 & 22/23).  
If you submitted your tax return online, you can log into them and amend the carry forward figures.  
If you submitted paper returns, you can submit amended supplementary pages.  
For the earlier 2 tax years (19/20 & 20/21) you need to submit a letter detailing your loss carry forward changes.  
I regret that the tax years earlier than this cannot be amended.  
Have a look at :
HS227 Losses (2023)
It has a worksheet to help you keep track of your losses.
Thankyou.

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