real estate professional

real estate professional

Usually refers generically to a trained and licensed person who makes his or her living in some aspect of buying,selling, or managing real estate.The IRS has a specific definition applicable to whether one is exempt from the passive activity rules. For IRS purposes, a real estate professional is any person who meets the following requirements:

1. More than half of the personal services the taxpayer performed in all trades or businesses during the tax year were performed in real property trades or businesses in which he or she materially participated.

2. The taxpayer performed more than 750 hours of services during the tax year in real prop- erty trades or businesses in which he or she materially participated.