Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 382

Right to carry forward losses to future years

Section 382 provides for the carry-forward of unrelieved trading or professional losses against future profits of the same trade or profession.

• Where a person sustains a trading or professional loss that has not been fully relieved under section 381 or any other Income Tax Acts provision, the unrelieved balance may be carried forward indefinitely.
• The carried-forward loss is set against assessable profits of the same trade or profession in subsequent years of assessment, beginning with the earliest available year.
• Relief is applied in strict chronological order — as much as possible is set against the first subsequent year's profits, with any remaining balance carried forward to the next year, and so on until the loss is exhausted.
• Once relief has been granted under this section, the person cannot claim relief for the same loss under any other provision of the Income Tax Acts.