Business & farm

since you live in a community property state

 

If you and your spouse each materially participate as the only members of a jointly owned and operated business and you file a joint return for the tax year, you can accept the IRS' default designation of your LLC as a "disregarded entity." This means, that given the particulars as stated the IRS designates your business as a Qualified Joint Venture. You both are treated as Sole Proprietors. If a married couple who file a joint tax return elect to conduct their business activities as a qualified joint venture, (a trade or business entity in which the husband and wife materially participate in such venture), the spouses must divide the items of income, gain, loss, deduction, credit and expenses in accordance with their respective interests in such venture (ie each file a schedule C. with 2 schedules C there will be a schedule SE for each

 

if both spouses do not materially participate then your LLC is required to file a partnership return. 

 

For purposes of the passive activity rules, you materially participated in the operation of this trade or business activity during 2020 if you met any of the following seven tests.
1. You participated in the activity for more than 500 hours during the tax year.
2. Your participation in the activity for the tax year was substantially all of the participation in the activity of all individuals (including individuals who did not own any interest in the activity) for the tax year.
3. You participated in the activity for more than 100 hours during the tax year, and you participated at least as much as any other person for the tax year. This includes individuals who did not own any interest in the activity.
4. The activity is a significant participation activity for the tax year, and you participated in all significant participation activities for more than 500 hours during the year. An activity is a “significant participation activity” if it involves the conduct of a trade or business, you participated in the activity for more than 100 hours during the tax year, and you did not materially participate under any of the material participation tests (other than this test 4).
5. You materially participated in the activity for any 5 of the prior 10 tax years.
6. The activity is a personal service activity in which you materially participated for any 3 prior tax years. A personal service activity is an activity that involves performing personal services in the fields of health, law, engineering, architecture, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, or any other trade or business in which capital is not a material income-producing factor.
7. Based on all the facts and circumstances, you participated in the activity on a regular, continuous, and substantial basis for more than 100 hours during the tax year. Your participation in managing the activity does not count in determining if you meet this test if any person (except you) (a) received compensation for performing management services in connection with the activity, or (b) spent more hours during the tax year than you spent performing management services in connection with the activity (regardless of whether the person was compensated for the services).