My company has made a loss this year. What happens to this for tax purposes?

• Published date: 26 May 2021
• Date: 26 May 2021
• Publication title: West Coast Messenger, The

This causes a headache for companies with tax losses to be carried forward who want to introduce new shareholders. In response to this problem the government recently brought in the new business continuity test. It allows companies that breach the shareholder continuity test to continue to carry forward losses if there is not a major change to the business activities within 5 years following the change of ownership.

You can still make some changes to the business post acquisition and meet the requirements of the business continuity test. These include increases in efficiency, responses to advances in technology, the scale of business, accessing different markets, or introducing a new product or service range (if the new product or service is using existing assets and is related to the product and services you already provide).

In response to...