Orange County Register

Almost any business that has lost money since Jan. 1, 2008, can apply that loss to federal tax returns for the past five years, under a new Internal Revenue Service procedure.

The change could mean a tax refund for these struggling businesses.

Previously, the loss applied only to small businesses. But the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 extended what is called the “loss carryback option” to any taxpayer with business losses except those that received payments under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The business can apply a net operating loss for a period of three to five years. It can carry back a loss from operations for four or five years. That action can offset taxable income in those years.

The procedure applies to losses from Jan. 1, 2008 through Dec. 31, 2009. You should talk to your tax adviser about the procedure and whether to move some spending into 2009 to have a loss this year instead of in 2010.

Click here to read the new IRS procedure.

Other economy stories…

• O.C. Oct. unemployment jumps to 9.6%
• LexisNexis closes O.C. office
• Everest College expands in O.C., adds 100 jobs
• Hiring demand picking up
• Calif. small businesses cut jobs, wages in October
• Local small-business lending picks up
• Those interest-free federal loans hard to get
• Economists see U.S. job growth in spring
• POLL: Who do you blame for the economy?

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