Limitation on utilization of assessed loss (Section 20 of the Income Tax Act)

The provisions of section 20 of the Act allow taxpayers to set off their balance of assessed losses carried forward from the preceding tax year against their income in determining taxable income.

Any unutilised assessed loss balance may be maintained forward to future assessment years against future income.

This means that taxpayers will only be liable for paying income tax only when they have earned a taxable profit and exhausted their assessed loss balance. In the 2020 Budget announcement, National Treasury proposed to broaden the corporate income tax base by restricting the offset of the balance of assessed losses carried forward to 80 per cent of taxable income.

Download our article and learn how this proposal will apply to the balance of assessed losses available at the time of implementation of the proposed amendment.