Tax reports do not seem to show losses

I had a very large holding (for me) in #45.  If I declared the whole of that to be a loss for 2016/17 because it was in a recovery procedure, that loss alone would have been more than enough to offset all of my AC income.  Adding in my Eppy/Ippy loans would have made a ghastly looking situation even worse.  My statement from FS shows more 'losses' than income as well. 

This all results from considering the whole of a loan to be a loss even when it is reasonably well secured.  And while I accept that's what's permitted by the HMRC guidance, it does seem an unreasonable position to take in the circumstances.  It's obviously aggravated by this being the first year the new rules went into effect.  In future years the adjustment to my P2P income would be the net of new loans going into recovery procedures and old loans coming out of such procedures so, with any luck, the effect should be a lot smaller.

In view of the full recovery of #45 just two days into the new tax year, ISTM that classifying all the capital I had in #45 as a 'loss' in 2016/17 and then classifying all that capital as 'income' in 2017/18 would cause an unnecessary huge distortion of my P2P income, so I don't intend to do it.  I realise that I could save some tax for 2016/17 and not have to pay it until I submitted my 2017/18 return, but it just doesn't seem to be the right thing to do.  But that's JMHO.

SteveT:  What effect would leaving #45 out of your calculation have on the 47% you reported?

To quote SAIM 1250 (my bolding)

Whether a loan has become irrecoverable should be judged on a case by case basis, however as the loan will be managed by a platform, the platform would usually be in a position to determine when a loan has become irrecoverable. The platform would then inform the lender that the loan had become irrecoverable. 


If the platform does not undertake this action, then the lender may still determine that the loan has become irrecoverable. However it will be the responsibility of the lender to show that there is no reasonable prospect of the recovery of the loan and it is NOT simply a case of late payment. 

I performed the task myself at the end of the 15-16 tax year and I am doing it again for 16-17 for the platforms that have not provided the information.
I am yet to perform the task for AC but I can think of at least one MILA loan that certainly qualifies. Taking up one of mikes1531 points implementing SAIM 1250 does provide some 'interesting' figures.  Due to my policy of selling loans on FS my deemed loan losses are greater than income, with Bondora losses are far greater than income even when you include the adjustment against last years deemed losses and in spite of nearly being out of FC my claimable losses are greater than income.

My accountants are going to love me when I present the figures

Fair point, actually I am holding back until June so see if there is any 'reaction' by HMRC to my claim last year, the year clock is still ticking on that one.
Yes it would be good to think that the platforms will get their act together (there are of course a few who have already and I applaud their actions) but if not I have everything preserved at 5/4/17 and numbers are now waiting.

Do I understand correctly that we ought to be able to offset income from one P2P platform with losses from another?  And that we have to carry forward any net loss on all our platforms combined rather than being able to use it to offset any non-P2P income?

I do realise that other forum users are not qualified to give tax advice -- to me or anyone else here -- so I'm just looking for indications of what other people think is the way things work.

Yes, correct. IMO non expert, non advisory, it runs as follows

1. Loans on the same platform that became irrecoverable after 6 Apr 2016 will automatically be offset against interest earnt on that platform and doesnt have to be claimed
2. For loans on a platform that became  irrecoverable between 6 Apr 15 & 5 Apr 16 relief can be claim against interest earnt on the same platform though tax return
3. For loans on a platform that became  irrecoverable after 6 Apr 15 relief can be claimed against interest earned on a different platform if there is excess releif over and above the interest earned on the same platform. Cliam through tax return.
4 If loans on all platforms that became irrecoverable after 6 Apr 15 provide relief in excess to all interest earned on P2P platforms that relief can be carried forward up to 4 years for use against P2P interest earned. it cant be used against non P2P interest.

Obviously for any loans that platforms havent identified as becoming irrecoverable but can be treated as irrecoverable  claim for relief would have to be made through tax form as info wouldnt be supplied by platform. Also as has been pointed out, platforms dont have to feedback until June, so if you want to get tax back earlier you would have to claim the relief for all loans through tax return I assume.

See the various worked examples p12 onwards here

I'm pretty sure that the powers under which HMRC collects data from the platforms are those mentioned in para 2.2 of the guidance, and AFAICS there are only the two types of interest return: the BBSI return for bank and building society interest, and the OI return for other interest.  Of the two, the OI return seems the more appropriate.  There may be supplementary guidance for the platforms but I've not been able to find it. 

The normal deadline for both returns is the end of June and I'd be surprised if the platforms had a different deadline, even if their process is different.