Eighteen days later Mr Flowers had acquired a controlling interest in Enstar, a small firm in Alabama that had two big attractions: a stockmarket value beneath its cash holdings, and a tax-loss to carry forward.

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If you still have a NOL remaining, you can carry that loss forward for up to 20 years.

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If your losses exceed the allowable limits for any tax year, you can carry the loss forward to later years subject to certain limitations.

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If there was a loss, you would carry it forward to apply against future profits.

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Liberty cannot move forward to buy the rest of the company until mid-2012 because a change of control would result in the loss of the NOL carry-forward.

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The New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act does not follow federal law regarding carry-forward and carry-back losses and the loss on the 2008 New Jersey individual income tax return can only be netted against gains or income reported in the category Net gains or income from disposition of property.

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The taxpayer could have elected to carry the net operating loss forward, in which case it would be available to shelter future income.

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The planning point here is that if you think there is anything sketchy about the carryback year, you may want to consider electing to carry the net opertating loss forward.

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If you have a net loss remaining after capital gains and capital losses are blended, you can carry it forward indefinitely.

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