Our last year's adjusted gross income was negative. Is this amount considered as deduction in this year's return?

[Phillip1 · Accepted solution]

Yes.

The situation you are describing most likely produced a net operating loss. You can carry the net operating loss forward for up to 20 years or until the loss is used up. 

See this IRS publication for a full explanation of NOL rules and applicability: Publication 536

[Ted55]

I have a similar situation for 2019 on my 1040 return -- a negative $19K AGI from a schedule K loss. Now here is my question, the very first line of the Pub 536 worksheet #1 tells me to subtract my standard deduction from my AGI. So if I take -$19K and subtract $24400, I get -$43400.

When I complete the rest of the worksheet, I end up with a NOL of -$43400 on line 25. This number just doesn't seem right since it's way larger (in a negative sense) than the AGI on the 2019 return.

Am I missing something?

[Jim48]

Have you found an answer?  I've got the same problem.  Have a negative AGI. 

[Cynthiad66]

Possibly.  For people other than business owners, this means no tax is due during the current year, but the "loss" does not affect other tax years. For business owners, the negative AGI may mean losses can be carried back or forward to reduce tax bills in other years.

However, if you are running a business as a sole proprietor, and losses on the business have contributed to your negative AGI, and thus in turn a negative taxable income, you may be able to apply some of these losses to different tax years.  The TCJA eliminated NOL carrybacks and permitted NOLs to be carried forward indefinitely. The CARES Act changes those rules temporarily by permitting NOLs incurred in 2018, 2019, or 2020 to be carried back for five years to the earliest year first and suspending the 80% taxable income limitation through 2020. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2020/nov/deducting-losses-cares-act-coronavirus-relief.h... 

To use this facility, you must complete IRS Form 1045. This involves recalculating the figures for the year in a way that means some of the costs that turn gross income into AGI are either excluded from the calculation, or subject to limits. You then recalculate your allowable deductions, which may be affected by the revised AGI, and then calculate a revised taxable income figure. If this figure is still negative, it forms the "loss" that you can apply to previous or future tax years. @Jim48

[triciabee]

Did you ever get a real response?