Property losses brought forward in the taxpayer’s self-assessment return were unavailable, as the losses had already been used in prior tax years.  

The appellant’s self-assessment return for the tax year 2017/18 included losses brought forward of £6,017. Following an enquiry into the return, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) concluded that the appellant’s losses had all been used in prior years. The appellant appealed. 

The appellant advanced two alternative arguments. Firstly, when calculating a taxpayer’s tax liability ITA 2007, 25(2) obliged HMRC to interpret the use of reliefs in a generous fashion and that the phrase ‘in the way’ extended beyond the ordering of usage of reliefs and allowances to include whether the relief was used, or used as a nil deduction (i.e. whether the carried-forward losses are used at all in a prior year). There