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December 7, 2019
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Safe Harbor for §199A Rentals

  • December 7, 2019
  • 18 replies
  • 114 views

I haven't read it yet, but hot off the press:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-19-07.pdf


.03 Safe harbor. Solely for the purposes of section 199A, a rental real estate enterprise will be treated as a trade or business if the following requirements are satisfied during the taxable year with respect to the rental real estate enterprise:

(A)  Separate books and records are maintained to reflect income and expenses for each rental real estate enterprise;
(B)  For taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2023, 250 or more hours of rental services are performed (as described in
this revenue procedure) per year with respect to the rental enterprise. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2022, in
any three of the five consecutive taxable years that end with the taxable year (or in each year for an enterprise held for less than five years), 250 or more hours of rental services are performed (as described in this revenue procedure) per year with respect to the rental real estate enterprise; and
(C)  The taxpayer maintains contemporaneous records, including time reports, logs, or similar documents, regarding the following: (i) hours of all services performed; (ii) description of all services performed; (iii) dates on which such services were performed; and (iv) who performed the services. Such records are to be made available for inspection at the request of the IRS. The contemporaneous records requirement will not apply to taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2019.
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EDIT:  They also released the Final Regulations for §199A.
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Best answer by Ernie

Thanks Bill! I copied it to read further.

18 replies

Level 4
December 7, 2019
www.thetaxadviser.com/news/2019/jan/sec-199a-qbi-deduction-xxxxxxxxx.html

"A rental real estate enterprise is defined, for purposes of the safe harbor, as an interest in real property held for the production of rents. A rental real estate enterprise may consist of multiple properties. The interest must be held directly or through a disregarded entity. Taxpayers either must treat each property held for the production of rents as a separate enterprise or must treat all similar properties held for the production of rents as a single enterprise.
"Commercial and residential real estate cannot be combined in the same enterprise"."

The last sentence disqualifies a 'rental' property for QBID if it's Mixed.

How many taxpayers actually keep some sort of log? Or have separate bank accounts for each property?
250 hours/year ~5 avg hours/week/21 avg hours/month are relatively reasonable for time spent for rental real estate activities, though some rental owners may not even put in that much time, depending on the owners, as it depends on facts and circumstances for Each taxpayer.

itonewbie
Level 15
December 7, 2019
"How many taxpayers actually keep some sort of log?"
That's why the Notice waives that requirement for 2018, so that people can start doing it from now on.

"Or have separate bank accounts for each property?"
To be precise, it's for each enterprise, so it doesn't have to be for each property.  In any case, maintaining separate books and records is not a new requirement from the IRS for a qualified business (e.g. QBU) and it's a best practice anyway.

"some rental owners may not even put in that much time, depending on the owners"
This is really a slack that the IRS has cut for many taxpayers, especially since time spent by the owner's employees, agents, and contractors will all count.  All that it takes now is to start a log and ensure these other people the owner engages will comply.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Still an AllStar
Level 3
December 7, 2019
Thank you so much Bill!!
Ernie
ErnieAnswer
Level 7
December 7, 2019

Thanks Bill! I copied it to read further.

Level 7
December 7, 2019
My clients do not keep separate bank accounts or keep track of time spent. Often the rentals produce a loss. These guidelines seem to indicate that the rentals are not eligible for a 199A calculus, and I can then use only their Sch C income to arrive at the 20% deduction?