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New ITR Forms out
for AY 2020-21
Here's what changed
97% Customer Retention
95% CSAT
10x Annual Growth
Sakshi Shah
2020-01-20 11:54:49Set-Off Losses under Income Tax means adjusting the loss against the taxable income earned; after that, the amount of loss remaining can be carried forward to future years. Therefore, the carry forward losses can be set off against future incomes. The Income Tax Act has, however, specified rules to set off and carry forward losses under each head of income. The taxpayer cannot carry forward losses to future years if the income tax return for the year in which loss is incurred is not filed on the Income Tax Website within the due date as per Sec 139(1). However, loss under the head Income from House Property can be carried forward even if the return is filed after the due date.
Loss under any head of income should be first set off against the income under the same head i.e. Intra-head set off. And then only can be use against other heads of income i.e. Inter-head set off. Below is a table with rules for set off.
Rules to Set Off Loss in Current Year
Non-Speculative Business Loss: INR 5,00,000
Speculative Business Income: INR 1,00,000
House Property Income: INR 2,50,000
Non-Speculative Business Loss should be set off in the following order:
Once the taxpayer adjusts losses using intra-head set off and inter-head set off rules, then the taxpayer can carry forward the remaining losses to future years. The carry forward loss can be adjusted against future incomes. Therefore, any Loss under any head of income except House Property Loss cannot be carried forward to future years if the ITR has not been filed within the due date as per Sec 139(1). Below is the table with rules to carry forward loss and set off against future incomes.
| Nature of Loss | No. of Years | Set off in Future against |
| House Property Loss | 8 Years | House Property Income |
| Speculative Business Loss | 4 Years | Speculative Business Income |
| Non-Speculative Business Loss | 8 Years | Non-Speculative Business Income or Speculative Business Income |
| LTCL | 8 Years | LTCG |
| STCL | 8 Years | STCG / LTCG |
| Horse Race Loss | 4 Years | Race Horse Income |
| Specified Business Loss u/s 35AD | Indefinite Period | Specified Business Income u/s 35AD |
| Other Sources Loss | cannot be carried forward | Not Applicable |
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Loss from equity intraday trading is a speculative business loss. Speculative loss can be set off against Speculative Profits only. Thus, it cannot be adjusted against F&O trading income. However, you can carry forward the loss for 4 years and adjust it against speculative profits in future.
Loss from F&O trading is a non-speculative business loss. Non-Speculative Loss can be set off against any income except Salary Income in the current year. Thus, you can adjust non-speculative loss against interest income (2 lacs) but not salary income. However, you can carry forward the remaining loss (8 lacs) for 8 years and adjust it against business & profession income (speculative and non-speculative) in future.
You cannot carry forward loss to future years if the income tax return for the year in which loss is incurred is not filed within the due date as per Sec 139(1). However, if you have incurred loss under head house property, you can carry forward the loss even if the return is filed after the due date.
Hi @raj_gupta,
When filing your ITR, the losses are first set off against the respective heads and are then carried forward.
Since F&O trading is treated as non-speculative business income for Income Tax purposes:
Like always, Quicko has special discounts for Zerodha Traders.
For details regarding ITR filing, you can drop your contact number here.