Self assessment - carrying/bringing forward losses

ellectrastar

I have a partnership for which I complete a return. My first return was last year and the partnership registered a loss. The second year has also registered a loss. When it comes to the partnership section of my self assessment there is a box in the section "trading or professional profits" where you can enter "Losses brought forward from earlier years set-off against 6 April 2019 to 5 April 2020 profit." Do I put here the loss that the partnership made last year, even though there's not yet a profit to set it off against? Does this keep rolling each year until a profit is made and it can be off-set? Beneath this field it says "Taxable profits after losses brought forward: £0.00" but when I enter a figure this adjusted to -£x.xx (the figure I had entered). 

Jeremy535897

No. See the notes to SA104S, box 24:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/873019/sa104s_-_English_Notes.pdf

If you have other income, you may wish to set the partnership loss against that income, but that is a separate matter.

[Deleted User]

While the partnership may have made a loss it is the individual partners that claim their share of the loss on their individual returns. If there is no profit in 2019/20, nothing is entered in the box which you have mentioned. You then add the loss made in the previous year to the loss made in 2019/20 and enter the total in the box:

‘Total loss to be carried forward after all other set-offs’

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/873018/sa104S_-_English_Form.pdf

While jeremy is correct in what he says, you can only carry losses brought forward from 2018/19 against income from that trade in 2019/20. You cannot carry those losses forward and set against other income of 2019/20.

ellectrastar

Thanks both - now I look at it again and what you have said I understand it. Just to clarify as an example, if I made a loss last year of 10,000, but made a profit this year of 5,000, I would enter 5,000 into the box I originally asked about (in effect zeroing out my profit meaning it's not taxable), and the remaining 5,000 from the year one loss would go into "total loss to be carried forward after all other set-offs"? 
How long can you carry losses forward? My partnership had a large outlay setting up but I foresee a steady small profit each year.
I can't offset against other income as I am working on cash basis. 

[Deleted User]

When you say the you mean a loss, you do mean your share of the loss? Your entries in the boxes seem correct. Losses can be carried forward indefinitely.