In Australia, my personal taxable income for a particular financial year before calculating depreciation on an investment property is very low (close to but above $0). This is after adding all rental income and deducting interest expenses, etc.
If my investment property depreciation for the FY brings my taxable income below $0 (say, for example, -$10,000), can that loss be carried forward as a credit for next FY?
Yes, if you have little income in one year and your expenses are more than your total income in that year, then any losses can be carried forward to a future income year in which you actually do have a taxable income.
One thing to consider though, your first $18,200 in income is Tax free, so in a future Income Year, after deductions, if your Taxable Income is $18,200 or less you will still have to utilise the tax loss from previous years in that Income Year, even though you wouldn't pay any tax anyway. This is because you must utilise a tax loss at the first opportunity, and you cannot defer the loss to a year where your income is more than $18,200.
The deductions you cannot use to create or increase a tax loss, including donations, gifts and personal super contributions. So you can deduct your depreciation on your investment property to derive a tax loss.
