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You helped with all of it. I was overwhelmed and needed your help and guidance. Thank you. And, thank you to this forum and all participants for providing a safety net and my virtual water cooler.

The problem is that the definition of a trade or business is not based on rules & regulations but on an aggregation of administration guidance and a number of court cases, some of which happened decades ago. The peace of mind that you are looking is not currently available ! Perhaps clarity on this issue will evolve over the next ten years.

Thank you! You are my new best friend. Your detailed and thorough explanations are a big help, as are you links. (Actually most of my best friends are on this site, including some no longer posting.) The wife does have a great POA in place that specifically discusses tax matters and signing returns and other good stuff and used to have a comfortable relationship with the CPA firm. And, luckily, she did have the K-1s from before my time. Now, the CPA firm seems to be ignoring her questions, requests for copies of the S-corp returns, etc. MIL seems to be having similar problems now that her husband passed away.

From Pub 535, page 2, middle column "Determining your qualified trades or busi- nesses. Your qualified trades and businesses include your section 162 trades or businesses, other than trades or businesses conducted through a C corporation, W-2 wages earned as an employee, and specified service trades or businesses. In general, to be engaged in a trade or busi- ness, you must be involved in the activity with continuity and regularity and your primary pur- pose for engaging in the activity must be for in- come or profit. If you own an interest in a pass-through entity, the trade or business de- termination is made at that entity's level. The ownership and rental of real property doesn’t, as a matter of law, constitute a trade or business, and the issue is ultimately one of fact in which the scope of your activities in connec- tion with the property must be so extensive as to give rise to the stature of a trade or business. However, the rental or licensing of property to a commonly controlled trade or business is con- sidered a trade or business under section 199A" Do you think a client a with a handful of properties would qualify?

Does Ruby actually schedule appointments if clients want it or do they just route calls? I'm wondering if anyone on here uses an office sharing site. A CPA in my building has decided to join one and it sounds interesting. He'll work from home all off-season but pay $90 per month for access to their conference rooms and as a mailing address. Then during tax season he'll rent a full blown office within their space to meet with clients. He expects it all to cost about $2,400 per year. He works odd hours (he'll come in at noon and leave at 10pm) and many allow that. He can cut the cost further by just using a desk within their larger space with a locked filing cabinet. I'm considering moving in the next year. Considering all options.

https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-taxes-by-electronic-funds-withdrawal See under "Cancellations..." on the above-linked IRS page. It includes a phone # for the dept that handles this.

Your customers may appreciate talking to a live person rather than a "virtual" receptionist. Answering services have live people too.

If you ever get to Manchester, I'll meet you and buy y'all dinner. (But not your whole caravan). Manchester is a small town, but strategically located on I-24 halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga. It is the first town north of Monteagle mountain. Monteagle is the highest point on the route between Miami and Chicago. Living conditions in Appalachia, from WV to AL, have been well publicized on TV commentaries, particular those involving coal. Trust me when I say some of the finest people on earth live in these places. I go there often to play bluegrass music. The poverty is abundant if you're looking for it but there is so much more. And over the years, some of the portrayals of these horrible living conditions are coming from places considered to be enlightened, such as Detroit, Chicago, Newark NJ, etc. One example is McDowell County in West Virginia, the poorest per capita income county in the U.S. You can tell it just by driving through it. However, the story of Homer Hickam and the "Rocket Boys" (from the Jake Gyllenhaal movie "October Sky") was backdropped in that county because that was their residence. Another untold story about Homer's father - he was the inventor of the most current commonly used slender personal rescue device used in coal-mining accidents. And banks, who hold life-and-death power over so much in our economy, barely populate McDowell county - as fewer than 10% of the homes are held by a mortgage, also a low for U.S. counties. The people there are incredibly resourceful and independent. I realize this is a tax forum and not designed to be a social commentary - but I would love to meet you if you are traveling through. I think you are a great member of the forum and appreciate your posts from time to time.

Hey, Edsel, I do get to TN from time to time with Appalachia Service Project (as well as KY, NC, VA, and WV). We drive in "caravans" so don't get to deviate from our route, unfortunately. Beautiful state. But, appalling living conditions in Appalachia. I even have three TN clients, not in Appalachia.

Just so that you aware, the definition of a "real estate professional" has nothing to do with whether an activity does or does not reach the level of an active trade or business, which is based on a totally different section of the code.

Perhaps, if he spends the majority of his time and generates the majority of his income from rental activities.