Is my CPA correct about not being able to utilize losses?

[Joe Richardson]

Last year I purchased my first two rental properties. I'm in it for the cash flow but was also hoping to get some of the tax perks. I talked with a couple of CPA's and went with one who has real estate investors and small business owners as clients already. He did my taxes for me and as I anticipated I had a loss on both properties (I did work to both). But, he says I'm not going to get any tax breaks in the short term because my income is to high from my W-2 job. I will however be able to carry these forward into years when I show profit or sell the properties. Should I be looking for another CPA that knows REI better or is this just something I have to live with?

Thanks,

[Brandon Hall]

@Joe Richardson as others have said if your MAGI is above $150k, you can't take the passive losses and they instead carry forward.

The difference between a real estate CPA and a non-real estate CPA is that the one whom knows what they are doing will begin to lay the ground work for you to tap into your suspended passive losses. So to answer your question, no you don't have to live with it if you hire proper advice.