For the T2 for Incorporated Business, on Schedule 4 (S4), Part 1 is used to ‘carry back non-capital loss’, but the lines to determine which of the 3 available years to apply the loss to are not clear:

“Line 901 - First previous tax year to reduce taxable income”

“Line 902 - Second previous tax year to reduce taxable income”

“Line 903 - Third previous tax year to reduce taxable income”

Question:  is line “901 - first year...” applicable to the most recent year or the oldest year?  (eg, for 2020 tax year, does “901 - first previous year” mean 2019 (most recent) or 2017 (oldest / first year can be applied)?)

(Note:  we cannot ‘assume’ anything, as when you look at similar section of the T1A for other types of business, they have the actual years listed on the lines, and are in order from oldest to newest, which seems counter-intuitive relative to this form.)

Thanks!