online self assesment and losses

matty2767

i have just one page to go to complete my return but i am stuck. it is about loses and their are 4 questions to answer. i have tried calling the helpline but they didnt really know either and i am just as confused. it is the first year i have run the business and i have made a loss but do i just complete box 2?

this is the screen

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/demo/individual/self-assessment/tailor-your-return/losses/567.html

any help would be gratefully received

thanks

matthew

nexuss

How long have you ran the business and what is it ? How much of a loss are you saying you had ? What were the losses actually for ?

matty2767

only started april 08. the loss is less than 20k which is set up costs.

thanks

matt

matty2767

i was employed prior to the year starting april 2008 so if i go for no. 1 in your list the boxes in need to fill out (in my link above) are

box 1 leave blank
box 2 insert £loss
box 3 leave blank
box 4 2009/10

thanks

matthew

matty2767

thanks for the reply jimmo. i think you have answered my initial question but you pose a good point. i wasnt a high rate taxpayer before though but my loses this year wouldnt reduce my income in 05/06 to zero. i dont know what to do now. i thought it was simple before

i have time to look into the suggestion though.

thanks

jakesuk

matty, if the losses wouldn't reduce your 05/06 income to zero then that is even better for you because it wouldn't waste some or any of your annual personal allowance.

Realistically need more info and numbers for more accurate advice.

matty2767

ok i have dug out my old p60. for the 05/06 tax year my total pay for the year was too small. i didnt realise, thought i earnt more than that.
moving to the year my total pay was 17k. my final tax code was 503L (it is a bit feint)
my losses for this year (08/09) are 9.5k according to the HMRC online tool.

so 17000-5030=£12k in which case my losses from this year can go against nearly all of the tax paid in 06/07.

is it ok to claim against the 06/07 year?
is there any disbenefits i should know about before doing this?

thanks in advance

matt

matty2767

i meant that my 05/06 income was about 12k and from your previous advice i would then be eating into my personal allowance. i will look out the information you require.

thanks