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Why capital losses are important

Capital losses are usually set against the capital gains that arise in the same year as the loss, reducing the total taxable gains for that year. Losses not used in this fashion are normally carried forward to be set against the next available gains.

However, in certain circumstances, those losses may be blocked, restricted, carried back to earlier tax years or possibly treated as if they were income tax losses (see below).

Where the taxpayer is subject to more than one rate of capital gains tax in a single tax year, they can choose which gains should be reduced by their capital losses so that their tax liability is reduced to the minimum possible.

If a taxpayer makes a claim to defer chargeable gains for an earlier year, the use of losses may be disturbed, which can have a knock-on effect for several tax years.

Capital losses must be quantified and claimed before they can be used.