CTM82150 | Reform of Corporation Tax loss relief: Group relief for carried-forward losses: Amount of prior claims

From HM Revenue & Customs · Company Taxation Manual

CTA10/S188DB(3), CTA10/S188DE, CTA10/S188DF(3)

The amount of group relief for carried-forward losses that can be claimed is limited to the smaller of two amounts (s188DB). These are:

The unused part of the surrendering company’s surrenderable amounts.

That is, the amount of surrenderable loss which is attributable to the

overlapping period that has not already been surrendered (CTA10/S188DC).

The company’s relevant maximum for the overlapping period less any amount previously claimed for the same period (CTA10/S188DE).

Amount of prior claims

To calculate the total amount of previously claimed group relief for carried-forward losses for the overlapping period, first identify each prior claim for the same accounting period (AP) as the current claim. A prior claim for this purpose is a claim made under CTA10/S188CB or 188CC for the same claim period that has not been withdrawn (s188DE(2)). There is a certain order in which claims are dealt with.

For each prior claim, work out the amount previously claimed as group relief for carried-forward losses:

Step 1

Identify the overlapping period for the prior claim

Step 2

Identify any common period between the overlapping period for the current claim and the overlapping period for the prior claim.
If there is no common period, there is no previously claimed amount in relation to the prior claim so ignore step 3.

Step 3

If there is a common period, time apportion the amount of group relief for carried-forward losses given on the prior claim, by reference to the proportion of the overlapping period for the prior claim that is included in the common period.
If time apportionment would produce an unjust or unreasonable result, another basis is to be used which gives a result that is just and reasonable (CTA10/S188DF(3)).

Add up all the apportioned amounts from step 3. The result is the amount previously claimed as group relief for carried-forward losses for the overlapping period of the current claim.

Example

In this example, losses have been time apportioned on a monthly basis for simplicity. Normally, time apportionment should be made by reference to days. Companies A, B, and C are members of the same group of companies for group relief purposes. None of the conditions that would make group relief for carried-forward losses unavailable apply.

Company	Description	Amount
Company A	AP 12 months to 31 Dec 2019	Profit £150,000
Company B	Post-1 April 2017 losses carried forward to the AP 12 months to 31 Dec 2019	Loss (£50,000)
Company C	Post-1 April 2017 losses carried forward to the AP 12 months to 30 Jun 2019	Loss (£40,000)

For the APE 31 December 2019, Company A makes a prior claim of £40,000 for Company C’s carried-forward losses. Company A then makes a later claim of £50,000 for Company B’s carried-forward losses.

The amount previously claimed is worked out as follows:

Step 1

Company A’s prior claim from Company C was for the overlapping period of 6 months from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2019.

Step 2

The common period of the overlapping period for the prior claim from Company C and the later claim from Company B is the 6 months from 1 January to 30 June 2019.

Step 3

The whole overlapping period for the prior claim is included in the common period, therefore the £40,000 does not need to be apportioned to the common period.

£40,000 is the total amount previously claimed for the overlapping period.