25 Tax losses deducted

Show at C tax losses from earlier income years, which are deductible in the 2011-12 income year under section 36-15 of the ITAA 1997.

Exclude the film component of any tax loss (film loss). A film loss is shown, to the extent permissible, at item 18 Other deductions, see the publication Australian film industry incentives 2009.

Show here any foreign loss component of tax losses that are being deducted in the current income year. The transitional rules in the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 require the extinguishment of certain foreign losses carried forward from prior years on conversion to a tax loss and impose an annual limit on the utilisation of the remaining foreign losses for the first four years of the measure's operation. Do not show current year foreign losses here - they are included at item 23 Other assessable foreign source income.

Complete a losses schedule if the trust is a listed widely held trust (as defined in Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936) and the trust is required to pass the same business test in order to claim a deduction for losses in the 2011-12 income year or will be required to pass that test in respect of losses being carried forward to later income years, see Subdivision 269-F of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.

For more information on the requirements for lodging the losses schedule, see the Losses schedule instructions 2012.

The following information will help you to complete C:

• The total of any tax losses shown at C cannot exceed the amount of net income shown at item 24 Total of items 20 to 23.
• Under the provisions of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936, certain conditions have to be satisfied by a trust before it can claim a deduction under section 36-15 of the ITAA 1997 for the whole or part of an earlier income year loss. Some trusts may have to work out their net income and tax loss for a year in a special way under Division 268 of Schedule 2F, for more information about the trust loss provisions see appendix 8.
• Complete item 27 Losses information if the income injection test under the trust loss provisions prevents the trust, including a family trust, from fully claiming a deduction for tax losses of an earlier income year in the 2011-12 income year, see Division 270 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.
• If the trust has net exempt income and an excess of assessable income over total deductions, other than tax losses of earlier income years, deduct the tax loss from the net exempt income and then deduct any remaining amount of tax loss from the excess assessable income, see subsection 36-15(3) of the ITAA 1997.
• If the trust has net exempt income and an excess of total deductions, other than tax losses of earlier income years, over assessable income, subtract the excess deductions from the net exempt income and then deduct the tax loss from any net exempt income that remains, see subsection 36-15(4) of the ITAA 1997. A trust's net exempt income is calculated in accordance with section 36-20 of the ITAA 1997.
• Losses may generally be carried forward indefinitely until deducted, irrespective of the year in which the loss was incurred.

Record keeping

Keep a record of any claims for undeducted tax losses of earlier income years. The trust must keep a record of its tax losses and account for any adjustments including those made by the ATO. If a trust incurs tax losses, you may need to keep records longer than five years from the date when the losses were incurred. Generally, tax losses incurred this year can be carried forward indefinitely, until they are applied by recoupment. When applied, the loss amount is a figure that leads to the calculation of the trust's net income (and beneficiary's taxable income) in that year. It is in the trust's interest to keep records substantiating this year's losses until the amendment period for the beneficiary's assessment for the recoupment year in which the losses are fully applied has lapsed (generally up to four years from the date of that assessment). Complete item 27 Losses information.

See TD 2007/2 Income tax: should a taxpayer who has incurred a tax loss or made a net capital loss for an income year retain records relevant to the ascertainment of that loss only for the record retention period prescribed under income tax law?

Beneficiaries with no interest in trust capital

A life tenant is a beneficiary with an interest in the income of the trust estate for the duration of their life, but with no interest in the capital of the trust.

If the trust includes a beneficiary who is a life tenant or a beneficiary with no interest in the capital of the trust, you cannot claim a deduction for tax losses of earlier income years in calculating the share of those particular beneficiaries in the net income of the trust if the tax losses of previous years are required to be met out of corpus.