Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Real estate professionals and short‑term rental owners must meet multiple IRS tests—750 hours, the 50 % work‑time rule, and 500 hours of material participation—to qualify for favorable tax treatment. Tracking these hours across properties and activities is time‑consuming, error‑prone, and often lacks audit‑ready documentation.
Solution
REP Helper is an AI‑driven platform that automatically records and verifies real‑estate professional (REP) hours and short‑term rental (STR) material participation. The system consolidates the 750‑hour test, the 50 % rule, and the 500‑hour material participation requirements, providing real‑time progress tracking and IRS‑ready evidence. Users can log activities manually, import bulk data, sync email and calendars, use voice notes, or capture receipts for AI extraction, reducing manual effort. The platform supports grouping elections per property or across all properties, ensuring compliance with the “substantially all” and grouping rules. A dashboard displays progress toward each test, and AI‑verified entries achieve high accuracy, giving users confidence during audits.
Target Audience
Primary users are real‑estate professionals, short‑term rental owners, and property managers who need to qualify for REP status or demonstrate material participation for tax deductions.
Features
- AI‑powered hour capture from manual entry, bulk imports, email/calendar sync, voice notes, and receipt image extraction
- Real‑time tracking of the 750‑hour test, 50 % work‑time rule, and 500‑hour material participation with visual progress indicators
- Support for per‑property or combined grouping elections to meet “substantially all” IRS requirements
- Automated generation of audit‑ready reports and evidence packages for each IRS test
- Secure cloud storage with encryption to protect sensitive financial and activity data
- Integration with common productivity tools to streamline data collection without leaving existing workflows