No taxable income - what should I do with charitable donations?

[ekojj]

My net income for 2021 is zero (actually in the negative) following deductions and expenses from rental property. So I don't have any taxable income. If I have no income from which to deduct charitable donations should I leave the line empty for 2021 and carryover my charitable donations (approx $2000) to next year? Thank you very much for any help!

[ColeenD3]

Yes. 

There's a limit on how much of your charitable contributions you can deduct. The basic rule is that your cash contributions to public charities, colleges and religious groups can't exceed 60% of your adjusted gross income, or AGI.

Sometimes a lower limit of 30%, or even 20%, is applied based on the type of organization or type of donation. When you go over the limit, you’re allowed to carry the excess forward for up to five years.

We automatically carry over excess contributions to next year's return for you.

Donations

[SweetieJean]

You can carry over your contributions that you are not able to deduct in the current tax year because they exceed your adjusted-gross-income limits.  However, this does not apply solely due to a negative taxable income.