Corporation Tax Act 2010 section 45B

Carry forward of post-1 April 2017 trade loss against trade profits

Section 45B provides a mechanism for carrying forward unrelieved trade losses arising on or after 1 April 2017 and setting them against profits of the same trade in the next accounting period, where the broader relief against total profits under section 45A is not available.

• Where a trade loss arises on or after 1 April 2017 and relief has not been obtained under section 37, section 42 or Part 5 (group relief), the unrelieved amount is carried forward to the next accounting period in which the company continues to carry on the same trade
• Relief is given automatically by reducing the trade profits of that next period by the unrelieved amount, but this only applies where the conditions for the wider section 45A relief against total profits are not met, or where the trade is a ring fence trade
• The company may elect, by making a claim within two years of the end of the later accounting period (or such further period as HMRC may allow), for all or part of the unrelieved amount not to be relieved against trade profits in that period
• For ring fence trades, the relief under this section applies only to the portion of the loss that is not a non-decommissioning loss, and all relief under this section remains subject to restriction or modification under other provisions of the Corporation Tax Acts