The question is apt. If the income from capital gains incurs a loss during a financial year and it can’t be adjusted in the same year, which is to say that the net income remains negative, the unadjusted capital loss can be carried forward provided it falls under the existing laws and provisions. For instance, a loss incurred from a long-term capital investment can only be adjusted against the long-term capital gain of the year. But, for any short-term capital loss, it can be easily adjusted against a short term as well as a long term capital gain/s. Also, the long-term capital loss can be adjusted in the gains for the next eight years immediate to the loss years. For, e.g., suppose you incurred a loss of, say Rs.13 lakhs, from one of your businesses while you made a gain of Rs.4 lakhs from another of your businesses. If both these (loss and gain) are covered under ‘income from capital gains, an adjustment can be between the two. The loss of Rs. 12 lakhs can be adjusted with the gain of Rs. 4 lakhs giving you a net long-term capital loss of Rs.9 lakhs. This loss can be carry forwarded to the next financial year, as per the income tax provisions. Also, it can be adjusted against both the capital losses (long term and short term) in that year. One important point to note is that the loss incurred in one financial year if is to be carry forwarded to the next, the income tax return of the loss year must be filed on or before the due date (usually 31st July) or else you can’t claim the losses from the previous year.