CREC041000 - Losses: pre-completion periods

Section 1179BF CTA 2009 

The rules in Part14A CTA 2009 restrict the normal loss relief rules prior to the completion of the film, TV programme or video game. 

Where a production company has a trading loss in any accounting period before the period in which the production is completed, that loss can only be carried forward to be set against profits of the separate trade for the same production. 

The loss may not be used against total profits of the production company or surrendered as group relief. If the production trade made a profit in an earlier period, losses cannot be carried back to be offset against the profit. 

If a company has losses brought forward from a previous period and no profits of the same trade to set them against in the current period, the losses are carried forward again. Losses may be carried forward indefinitely until the completion period. 

These provisions are not altered by the more flexible loss relief provisions brought in from 1 April 2017, as those provisions do not cover separate production trades.