Every taxpayer's case is different and you cannot generalize by saying that everyone claiming QBI for rental income should select safe harbor. I appreciate that DanielV01 brought up the Sect. 162 alternative as an option. Having said that, I totally agree that TT should fix this problem such that people can e-file with safe harbor election. I cannot imagine why IRS would accept e-signatures for the whole tax return but not the safe harbor statement.
Regarding a previous comment: "If you are relying on this section make sure you are prepared to provide evidence that you spend most of your time related to rental activities.", I could not find any evidence that this is a requirement for Sect. 162. The requirement is that the taxpayer must engage in the activity on a regular and continuous basis.
Furthermore for taxpayers using a property management company, there is also some debate about that. The cases involving these debates concluded that "the taxpayer is engaged in a trade or business if the activities performed by the agent would, if conducted by the taxpayer, constitute a trade or business." (https://keitercpa.com/blog/rental-real-estate-rising-to-the-level-of-a-trade-or-business-for-purpose...)
According to the conclusion in the previous paragraph I think I can rely on Sect 162 and also the safe harbor. I have been using the same property management company for all my five rentals, all of which have positive net earnings, for the last ten years. I agree that the safe harbor method would have been less risky if I could e-file with safe harbor election. But having to paper file and mail the tax forms introduces risks on its own due to handling of the forms, errors during data entry or mail delays etc., and increases the chances of an audit.
