Self Assessment Carrying Losses Forward

Jo1802

Hi there,

I set started my business in April 2010. I'm currently doing my first ever Self Assessment Online and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about carrying forward losses.

I made a loss in my business of -£2264. I also work part time for an agency. Now I've been advised by HMRC that I'm due a tax refund for 2009/10 for employment anyway, before even submitting this tax return. They advised me to offset this loss against other income for 2010/11 or carry forward to set against future profits. I'm unlikely to pay much tax for employment in 2011/12 as my personal allowance was raised to £7475 and I usually only earn about £7700 p/year in this employment.

I will be continuing the business next year. Though I'm unsure of whether I should be carrying forward the whole loss against future profits or assign some of the loss to offset against other income...

If I assign some of the loss against other income and I end up not paying any tax anyway, what will happen to this allowance? Will it be wasted? My apologies for such a long winded post for such a simple question...