The evidence behind the write-off. Say what you did in a sentence —
type it or dictate it — and the log dates it, times it, ties it to the property, and
rules it in or out against the IRS lists. It refuses to quietly count hours that do
not count, and it warns you in June that you are behind — not in February that you
missed. One person’s log, on purpose: spouses cannot combine hours.
What did you do?
Like you’d tell a friend: “met the plumber at the 82nd St
duplex for 2 hours” · “showed unit 3 to two applicants, 90 min”
· “built an ROI spreadsheet, 3 hours” (that one gets ruled out —
watch).
Counted this year
—
The pace
—
Ruled out
—
Logged but not counted - a complete record beats a padded one.
The second test
> 50%
More than half of ALL your working hours. That one is yours to check
against your other work - we cannot see it.
The record
Contemporaneous, dated, tied to a property, each entry ruled in or out
with the reason written down. This is the log format that survives being asked for.
Date
What
Property
Time
Verdict
One person, one log. The 750 hours and the more-than-half test must both
be cleared by the SAME person in the same year — on a joint return the spouses’
hours cannot be added together. This is a record-keeping tool, not tax advice; your CPA
makes the call with this in hand.