My business partner and I co-own (50/50) a STR in Hawaii that we both manage on our own. We've completed Cost Study and are working with a CPA. There are some questions that we are having a hard time getting answers to which I'd like to post here for more insight.
- If we both want to use this benefit, for material participation eligibility, how would that work? Do we have to both exceed 500hrs of participation due to partnership? or can we each exceed 100hrs assuming thats higher than any other individual participating in the activity?
- assuming 500hrs each, we have spent enough time this year to get to that but wondering if thats a red flag for IRS with high chance of getting audited (we travelled 7 times over the past year to work on the unit and spend at least a week each time excluding the time we spent managing the guests)
- Lastly, our understanding is that each can take 50% of the final offset to our W2 assuming we prove material participation eligibility.
Accountant · San Diego, CA · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 552 votes
2y
100 hour test is a no go if both of you want to use it. Since the test is 100 hours AND more then anyone else. Unless you tell your friend to work 100 hours and you work 101 ;)
According to prior tax court cases, travel time does NOT count toward material participation time. Unless the property is local to you and you are driving to it and diligently logging your hours and why you are going and what you did, I would advise generally not putting it.
I would need to know more but I can recommend going for the 500 each.
100 hour test is a no go if both of you want to use it. Since the test is 100 hours AND more then anyone else. Unless you tell your friend to work 100 hours and you work 101 ;)
According to prior tax court cases, travel time does NOT count toward material participation time. Unless the property is local to you and you are driving to it and diligently logging your hours and why you are going and what you did, I would advise generally not putting it.
I would need to know more but I can recommend going for the 500 each.
Thanks for the response Zachary. We are not including travel time but each time we stayed there to work on the unit including repair, painting, furnishing.
If you have completed a cost segregation and are working with a CPA, how come you have struggled to get answers from the CPA?
Hi Kelly, Our CPA doesn't seem to be fully confident having never dealt with a situation similar to us. I have gone through every blog post and forum online to find a similar case to us with no luck as well.
If you have completed a cost segregation and are working with a CPA, how come you have struggled to get answers from the CPA?
Hi Kelly, Our CPA doesn't seem to be fully confident having never dealt with a situation similar to us. I have gone through every blog post and forum online to find a similar case to us with no luck as well.
Hmm isn't providing tax advice and accurately filing your tax return what you are paying your CPA for.....? Might be time to find a Real Estate CPA that is "fully confident" in your situation. There are 20 + Real Estate CPA commenting here that you can DM to get help with tax filing.
Your situation isn't that complicated or unusual for a CPA with a solid background in Real Estate.
@Soroush Akbarzadeh sounds like you need a new CPA. It is possible to do, but most don't qualify.
I agree, we are too late for this one and have already committed/paid. I would look for a new CPA for our next property. What's criteria for qualification for partnership ? do we both have to hit 500hrs ?