ZT: IRS defined RE Professional

 

As defined by the IRS , to qualify as a real estate professional, you must meet BOTH of the following two criteria:

* First, more than half of the personal services you provide (that is, at least half of your work hours) for the tax year must be in a real property trade or business (including rental real estate activities). If you are an employee in a real estate-related business, your activities count only if you own more than 5% of the business.
* Secondly, you must work more than 750 hours during the tax year in a real property trade or business.

And what counts as a “real property trade or business”? The IRS’s definition is very broad: A real property trade or business is any business that develops or redevelops, constructs or reconstructs, acquires, converts, rents or leases, manages, or brokers real estate. Your activities overseeing your own rental real estate count toward the real estate professional status.

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Two Tests:
More than half of the time you spend performing personal services in ALL trades or businesses is spent in "qualified real estate activities."
-AND-
More than 750 hours a year are spent in qualified real estate activities in which you materially participated. *

* Materially participated means any ONE of the following PER EACH PROPERTY UNLESS YOU ELECT TO AGGREGATE THEM.

Worked more than 500 hours on the property during the tax year OR

Your participation for the tax year equals substantially all of the participation including non-owners OR

Worked more than 100 hours AND that is equal to or greater than anyone else OR

Qualified as above for any five out of ten past years.

所有跟帖： 

• A non working spouse can easily meet the 1st requirement, right? -tz2000- ♂ (0 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 16:59:19

• yes, sure. -dfw- ♂ (83 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 17:04:22

• 企鹅MM说，“找房、买房都不算，连给房客SHOW房子都不算” -SunshineInCA- ♀ (79 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 17:07:18

• here is a link (published in 2008 though) -dfw- ♂ (227 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 17:15:14

• very good information. Thanks for sharing. -SunshineInCA- ♀ (0 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 18:24:51

• if both you and your spouse work full time (W-2), -dfw- ♂ (306 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 17:01:56

• 我也觉得不可能，除非人家睡觉你干活。 -SunshineInCA- ♀ (102 bytes) () 11/01/2012 postreply 17:04:43