Can loss derived in first year of letting out a property be carried forward to be set off rental in next year?
If a tax payer has a loss in letting in first year, can he carry that forward to set off against rental in following year rather than against other income in that year as personal allowance covers other income?
The tax year of property letting has to be 6th April to 5th April?
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That's all you can do
a property income loss cannot be set sideways against other income of the year.
Just to clarify
I think you are talking about a single property, but just in case there is more than one property, I would mention that you aggregate all the properties into one property business, so effectively any loss on one is set against the profits of the others in the same year. Any overall loss can only be carried forward to set against future profits of the overall letting business.
Unless ...
... the properties are in different countries, you only aggregate like with like to stop people paying for overseas holiday homes with tax relief on their BTL portfolio.
As Portia has said, only the Basis Period has to be the Tax Year (except for partnerships).
You are free to choose any year end you wish, with the appropriate time apportionment.
[ Edited to add that I usually retain the year end of the relevant country for any foreign lettings.]
Whenever you like
Are you saying that you have something other than 5 April and want to change to that? As above, except for property in a partnership you will always have had to apportion results for a non 5 April year end to bring it in line for the tax year.