Hypothetical question: A married couple, Jim and Maria. Maria is a professional who earns $750,000/yr in W2 income. Jim takes notice, and thinks to himself: maybe I should quit my job to become a real estate professional to take advantage of the tax code for real estate professionals?
Question: If Jim passes the rigorous tests the IRS imposes to make sure Jim is in fact a real estate professional, could Jim's status and investments he makes in RE allow for an accelerated/bonus depreciation event offsetting Maria's income? As a bonus, what would something like this look/play out like?
Did you find an answer to this? I am wondering the same thing.
Does Jim have to work more hours than Maria?
Next question. What if Maria's W2 doesn't require a lot of hours, say she is an airline pilot who sits on-call a lot, and is not needed much. So she works 40-50 hours a month. What if she wants to be the real estate agent, to off-set her and Jim's investment portfolio?