Claim RE Professional status with W2 from full time job

[Mengqi Jia]

My partner and I working full time with W2s and our income is above the $150k limit. AFAIK We can not use the rental loss to offset our W2 incomes without RE professional status.

I understand it is usually tricky to claim RE professional status with full time job and W2. However, this year, I will have about half year on leave (maternity and parental leave). Can I claim RE professional status by leveraging my leaves to conduct RE activities? 

Thanks in advance for any response and help! 

[Michael Plaks]

@Mengqi Jia

Possibly.

Count all the hours spent at your job while you worked. Probably 40 hrs x 25 weeks = 1,000 hours.

If you can document that you spent 1,001 hours during the year involved hands-on with your real estate, you will pass the test. Be careful though that only hands-on work hours count. Reading BiggerPockets does not.

Also, keep in mind that, should you qualify this year, your past losses remain locked. Only the current year losses will become deductible.