<p>I’m trying to understand this loss carryback and forward rule. </p>
<p>In terms of getting a refund from the loss, is it getting refund one tax income year at a time or can I get refund from all the past years in which I was profitable until the max of the loss?</p>
<p>For example, if I was profitable since 2008, and incurred a huge loss in 2012. </p>
<p>Do I take a refund on 2008 for this 2012 tax year, and then for 2013 tax year and still not profitable, do I do a carryback in 2009? </p>
<p>or can I get refunds for 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 simultaneously for 2012?</p>
<p>I had to deal with this with Foreign Tax Credits where they allow 10-year carry forward and 1-year carry back. I took the max last year so I can’t use the carry back and will just carry forward (might not ever get the tax credits because of the way the formulas work.</p>
<p>My understanding is that you have to file an amended return for carry backs. I didn’t know that you could carryback losses - I only thought that you could carry them forward.</p>
<p>@3bm103- net operating loss for a small business</p>
<p>say, I have over $40,000 loss last year. I expect to be profitable this year. Can I use that loss to get refunds from the 3 previous years in which I paid taxes due to being profitable? Consolidate all 3 years and get one big refund?</p>
<p>Or is it one year at a time?</p>
<p>If I paid 12K in taxes in 2009, 14k in 2010, 16k in 2011 - can I file some type of form to get 40k back?? or is the max I can get for 2012 is to pick any of those years.</p>
You can’t get back $40K in taxes when you have a $40K loss in income. You can only get back the taxes paid on $40K of income in previous years, which will probably be in the $10K-$15K range.</p>
<p>Pub 536 has the answers you seek, but honestly you need an accountant. Just having a loss may or may not make you able to use NOL carryback, and there may be adjustments to the amount. Figuring all that out correctly will not be pleasant. :D</p>