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Hours counted toward material participation

The worked example logs 520 participation hours, enough to clear a 500-hour line and a 100-hour line, with 80 cleaner hours kept out of that total.

Thresholds

Tax year

500-hour threshold

Starts at 500. Publication 925 test 1 is more than 500 hours.

100-hour threshold

Starts at 100. Publication 925 test 3 is more than 100 hours and at least as much as any other person.

750-hour threshold

Starts at 750. Publication 925 real estate professional hours. Your hours only.

More-than-half percent

Starts at 50. Publication 925: more than half of personal services in real property trades or businesses.

All personal service hours

Your hours in every trade or business, including this one. Used for the more-than-half line.

Add a row

Date

Hours

Who

Label

For someone else, the label groups hours so the 100-hour line can use the highest person.

Log

Date	Hours	Who	Label

How it works

Each row is a date, hours, and a role: you, your spouse, or someone else.
Participation hours add you and your spouse. Someone else stays out of that total.
The 500-hour line is met when participation hours are greater than the threshold.
The 100-hour line is met when participation hours are greater than that threshold and at least as large as the highest labeled other person. Rows with a blank label share one group.
The 750-hour line and the more-than-half line use your hours only. More than half compares your hours with all personal service hours you type.
Rows for the selected year are saved in localStorage and exported as CSV. The file is not uploaded.

Source: IRS Publication 925 (2025), material participation tests and real estate professional qualifications, retrieved 2026-10-09, https://www.irs.gov/publications/p925.

Worked example

March 2, 2026: 400 hours, you, repairs. April 15, 2026: 120 hours, spouse, bookkeeping. June 1, 2026: 80 hours, cleaner. Participation hours are 520. The cleaner stays at 80.

520 is greater than 500, so the 500-hour line is met. 520 is greater than 100 and at least 80, so the 100-hour line is met. 400 is not greater than 750, so the 750-hour line is not met. If all personal service hours are 700, 400 is more than half of 700, so that line is met. Spouse hours are in the 520 and out of the 400.

Frequently asked questions

Which hours count toward the 500-hour line?

Your hours plus your spouse's hours. Hours logged as someone else stay in a separate total. The line is met when the participation total is greater than the threshold in the field, which starts at 500 from Publication 925.

How does the 100-hour line work?

It is met when participation hours are greater than the threshold, which starts at 100, and at least as large as the highest total logged for any one other person. Publication 925 test 3 is more than 100 hours and at least as much as any other individual.

Do spouse hours count toward the 750-hour line?

Spouse hours count in the participation total. The 750-hour line and the more-than-half line use your hours only. Publication 925 says not to count a spouse's personal services for those two real estate professional requirements.

Where is the log, and what is in the CSV?

The log stays in this browser's localStorage under the key ra.material-participation.v1. The CSV is date, hours, role, and label for the rows you export. Nothing is uploaded.