Andrew M. D’Avanzo learned two sad lessons from his trips to court. First, he learned the grouping lesson. If he did not group his rental properties on his tax return, each property had to stand alone to meet the time tests for material participation. If he grouped the properties, one time test would apply to the combined rental properties.

Grouping was the first problem.

D’Avanzo’s second problem was the big one: He had no proof of time spent. The court found ... Log in to view full article.