Loss carry forward left off of a tax return by accident

[Chuckiecc]

I self prepare my taxes using turbo tax and have for years.  in the past, I had  a very large.   I have a very large 'long term capital loss carryover" line 15 schedule "D" on my 2017 return.  I have not had any capital gains to speak of since that time.  For tax year 2021 I had a significant capital gain.  When getting my taxes ready I didn't see the capital loss carry forward on last years return.  I went back thru my returns over the past years (all done with turbo tax) and noticed that for some reason in 2018 my loss carryforward was NOT picked up by the turbo tax program and therefore not listed on my 2018 return (ugh) its a big number..

So now, my dilemma is what to do?  Do I have to file amended returns for 2018, 2019, 2020? Or should i simply take the number from the 2017 carry forward worksheet and use that to offset my long term capital gains in 2021??  Help please..  

[PattiF]

You will need to amend the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 to add the carryforward loss. You did have capital gains for those years and the carryforward loss will be used for those years.

[Chuckiecc]

Thanks,  Kinda what I thought.  I understand that if there are gains in subsequent years, you have to offset those, and cannot decide which to use, however i had ordinary income but NOT capital gains.  Therefore the loss carry forward would likely remain the same number.  One thing, can I write off 3K per year of bad debt against those capital loss carry forwards?  So although I didn't have a capital gain in 2018, 2019 or 2020, I could then deduct the 3k per year there correct?