Jul 3, 2026 · 14 min · 10 segments
Most W2 earners think REPS and the STR tax loophole are the same thing. They are not, and confusing the two could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars a year. In this episode, Michael and Liz…
Michael ChangHost
Elizabeth ChangHost
And there's a huge misconception about REPS, which is real estate professional status, versus the SDR tax loophole.

Number one, real estate professional status and the SDR tax loophole are two different things.

Namely, you can take depreciation expense, a non-cash expense when you buy real estate, and use that to offset active income.

REPS is, and I'm going to summarize here, you must do at least 750 hours, right? These are 750 hours minimum.

So if you have a job or you do anything else, this has to be greater than that.

So if you're working 50 hour weeks, 200 hours a month, 1600 hours a year, your real estate activities has to exceed that.

And there's a huge misconception about REPS, which is real estate professional status, versus the SDR tax loophole.

Number one, real estate professional status and the SDR tax loophole are two different things.

Namely, you can take depreciation expense, a non-cash expense when you buy real estate, and use that to offset active income.

REPS is, and I'm going to summarize here, you must do at least 750 hours, right? These are 750 hours minimum.

So if you have a job or you do anything else, this has to be greater than that.

So if you're working 50 hour weeks, 200 hours a month, 1600 hours a year, your real estate activities has to exceed that.
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