Loss relief

Loss Relief is where you record losses brought forward from earlier years and create the loss claims HMRC needs. Simple carry-forward of property losses against future property profits happens automatically, so you only come here for the cases that need a formal claim.

What Loss Relief is for

Loss Relief (at /tax/losses) is where you tell HMRC about losses carried forward from earlier years and manage the loss claims attached to them. It works for your property business, your self-employment business, or both.

It covers three jobs:

• Register a loss brought forward from an earlier tax year, and edit or delete it.
• Create or delete a loss claim, and change a claim's type.
• Keep your losses and claims in step with what HMRC holds.

Important: Simple carry-forward of property losses against future property profits is automatic and needs no claim. You only need this page for losses or claims that HMRC requires you to record explicitly.

This guide explains the buttons and the order to do things in. It does not advise on which relief applies to your situation: that is a tax-law decision, so check with HMRC or your accountant, or see /mtd-guide.

Who can use it

Loss Relief is available on Free and MTD Lite, for both property and self-employment.

You do need a connected HMRC account, because losses and claims are read from and written to HMRC. If you have not connected yet, see Connect your HMRC account.

Before you start

• You are signed in and connected to HMRC.
• For a self-employment loss, the business must already be registered with HMRC (it needs an HMRC business ID). Property losses do not need this.
• You know which tax year the loss is brought forward from and the amount.

Register a brought-forward loss

1. Open Loss Relief from the Tax & MTD menu, or go to /tax/losses. (You can also reach it from Year-End Review.)
2. Review the summary of brought-forward losses and active claims already on file.
3. To add a loss, choose the tax year it is brought forward from and enter the loss amount (it must be greater than zero).
4. If the loss is for self-employment, select the relevant business.
5. Click Register Loss.

Note: The amount is the loss carried forward from an earlier year, not a figure for the current year. Your current-year profit or loss is built automatically from the transactions you record.

Edit or delete a loss

1. Find the loss in the summary list.
2. To change the amount, use the pencil icon, enter the new figure, and click Save (or Cancel to discard).
3. To remove it entirely, use the trash icon.

Create or remove a loss claim

1. Make sure you have registered a brought-forward loss first (a claim is made for a tax year and loss type, not attached to one specific loss entry). Click Create Claim, which becomes available once a brought-forward loss exists.
2. Choose an available claim type for that loss type and confirm. (For property, the usable option is Carry Forward to Carry Sideways.)
3. To remove a claim, use the trash icon next to it.

Available claim types depend on whether the loss is property or self-employment:

• Property: the usable claim type is Carry Forward to Carry Sideways. The Carry Sideways options are shown but unavailable for property. Plain carry-forward against future property profits happens automatically, so there is no separate claim to create for that.
• Self-employment: both Carry Forward and Carry Sideways are supported.

Tip: If you are unsure which claim type to use, this is a tax decision, not a software one. Confirm with HMRC or your accountant before you submit.

Loss Relief is also linked from Year-End Review, so you can sort out losses before you finalise. See Year-end Final Declaration for how the year-end flow fits together. For accounting adjustments to income and expense totals, see Business adjustments (BSAS), and for annual property allowances and adjustments see Property annual finalisation.

If something goes wrong

• Registering or claiming a loss fails for 2026-27 or later. The current version supports tax years up to and including 2025-26. Choose a supported tax year; later years arrive in a future update.
• Carry Sideways is shown but unavailable for a property loss. This is expected. For property use Carry Forward to Carry Sideways, and remember that simple carry-forward against future property profits is automatic and needs no claim.
• The page is empty or shows a "not enrolled" state. This usually means you are not yet enrolled for Making Tax Digital with HMRC, so reads come back empty. Finish your HMRC connection and confirm your MTD enrolment, then refresh. See Connect your HMRC account.
• A self-employment loss will not save. Check the business is registered with HMRC first (it needs an HMRC business ID). Property losses do not require this.

If you are still stuck, see Getting help.

Frequently asked questions

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