What this line means
Your share of net income from partnerships and S corporations in which you materially participate. Material participation means you are involved in the operations of the business on a regular, continuous, and substantial basis. Nonpassive income is not subject to passive activity limitations and is taxed as ordinary income. The amounts come from your Schedule K-1 and go in the nonpassive income column.
Does this apply to you?
- You are a general partner who actively manages a partnership’s business operations
- You work full-time in an S corporation as an employee-shareholder
- You spend more than 500 hours per year in the partnership or S corporation’s business activities
- You are the sole participant in the entity’s business and do substantially all the work
Easy to overlook
Seven tests determine material participation — you only need to pass one The IRS provides seven tests for material participation. The most common: (1) you participated more than 500 hours during the year, (2) your participation was substantially all the participation by anyone, or (3) you participated more than 100 hours and no one else participated more. Many taxpayers who actively work in a partnership assume they are passive because they are not there every day, when 500 hours over a year is roughly 10 hours per week. 1 IRS Publication 925 — Passive Activity and At-Risk Rules
Guaranteed payments are always nonpassive If you receive guaranteed payments from a partnership (reported on K-1 Box 4), those payments are nonpassive income regardless of your participation level. Guaranteed payments compensate you for services or capital use and are treated as ordinary income subject to self-employment tax. They go on line 29b even if all your other partnership income is passive. 2 IRS Schedule E instructions — Line 29b material participation
Watch out for this
Claiming material participation without keeping a time log. The IRS can challenge material participation status during an audit, and the burden of proof is on you. Courts have disallowed material participation claims from taxpayers who relied on estimates or general statements about their involvement. Maintain a contemporaneous log of hours, dates, and activities performed.
Footnotes
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IRS Publication 925, Passive Activity and At-Risk Rules, Material Participation. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p925.pdf ↩
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IRS Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) Instructions, Box 4 Guaranteed Payments. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1065sk1 ↩