Rental Property Deduction

[Anonymous]

Turbotax will not allow me to deduct rental property losses ... my earnings were under $150K last year. The questions at the beginning of the rental property section says if one has 750+ hours of real estate or more than 50% of non-work time in real estate, then one is an active participant. I checked no to both of those questions. Articles I have read say one can take the deduction is the earnings for the year are under $150K. Please advise. Thank you!

[Anonymous_]

The boxes you actually did not check related to real estate professionals (750 hours/50%) which is irrelevant with respect to the special allowance of up to $25,000.

What you must do, however, is indicate that you owned 100% of the rental and were an active participant.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the answer. I have indicated we owned 100% of the rental and were active participants. The losses are $6009 and the qualifying amount is $293. I do not understanding why the total loss would not be $6009?

[Anonymous_]

I can only suggest going through the Rental section again to ensure everything is entered properly. 

However, note that the special allowance starts to abate at $100,000 and is eliminated completely at $150,000.