--- title: "How a 1099 Contractor Can Track Hours to Qualify for REPS | Addicted to ROI" description: "As a 1099 contractor you have no timesheet, which makes the more-than-half REPS test tricky. Two ways to document your hours so real estate wins." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization", "name": "Addicted to ROI", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com/images/logo.png" }, "description": "Live your best life funded by your investments. Real estate, taxes, travel, and business, by Jennifer Beadles.", "founder": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer" }, "sameAs": [ "https://agentsinvest.com", "https://doorprofit.com", "https://repstime.com", "https://strhours.com", "https://kidspayroll.com", "https://rentstager.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#website", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com", "name": "Addicted to ROI", "publisher": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer", "name": "Jennifer Beadles", "url": "https://addictedtoroi.com/about/", "jobTitle": "Founder, Addicted to ROI", "description": "Real estate investor and founder of Addicted to ROI. Built an 8-figure rental portfolio across multiple states and teaches everyday investors how to build passive income.", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "sameAs": [ "https://agentsinvest.com", "https://doorprofit.com", "https://repstime.com", "https://strhours.com", "https://kidspayroll.com", "https://rentstager.com" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/reps-1099-contractor/" }, "headline": "How a 1099 Contractor Can Track Hours to Qualify for REPS", "description": "As a 1099 contractor you have no timesheet, which makes the more-than-half REPS test tricky. Two ways to document your hours so real estate wins.", "image": "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1454165804606-c3d57bc86b40?w=800&q=80", "datePublished": "2026-07-09", "dateModified": "2026-07-09", "author": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#jennifer" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://addictedtoroi.com/#organization" }, "speakable": { "@type": "SpeakableSpecification", "cssSelector": [ ".tldr-answer", "h1" ] } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Blog", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tax Strategies", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog?category=tax-strategies" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How a 1099 Contractor Can Track Hours to Qualify for REPS", "item": "https://addictedtoroi.com/blog/reps-1099-contractor/" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can a 1099 contractor qualify for real estate professional status?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, but you have to document both your real estate hours and your contractor hours. REPS requires more than half of all your personal services to be in real estate, so you need proof your real estate hours exceeded your contracting hours." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How do I prove my hours as an independent contractor for REPS?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Put your hourly rate and hours worked on every invoice you send, which creates a dated record of your contractor time. If your work is computer-based, automated time-tracking software can log the hours as well." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What is the more-than-half test for REPS?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "In addition to 750 hours in real estate, more than half of all the personal services you perform across every trade or business must be in real property trades or businesses. Your real estate hours have to outweigh everything else combined." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Why is REPS harder for 1099 contractors?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Independent contractors have no employer timesheet, so proving how many hours went to contracting is on them. Since that number has to stay below your real estate hours, documenting the contractor side is just as important as documenting the real estate side." } } ] } ] --- [![Addicted to ROI](/images/logo.png)](/) [Travel](/pillars/travel/)[Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/)[Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/)[Business](/pillars/business/)[Paths](/paths/)[Blog](/blog/)[Tools](/tools/)[Apps](/software/)[About](/about/) [Login](https://members.addictedtoroi.com/) Subscribe [Travel](/pillars/travel/)[Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/)[Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/)[Business](/pillars/business/)[Paths](/paths/)[Blog](/blog/)[Tools](/tools/)[Apps](/software/)[About](/about/)[Login](https://members.addictedtoroi.com/) Contents 1. [01 The rule that makes 1099 hours matter ](#the-rule-that-makes-1099-hours-matter) 2. [02 Fix number one: put hours on your invoices ](#fix-number-one-put-hours-on-your-invoices) 3. [03 Fix number two: let software track your screen time ](#fix-number-two-let-software-track-your-screen-time) 4. [04 The takeaway for contractors ](#the-takeaway-for-contractors) [Home](/)/ [Blog](/blog/)/ [Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/) Tax Strategies # How a 1099 Contractor Can Track Hours to Qualify for REPS As a 1099 contractor you have no timesheet, which makes the more-than-half REPS test tricky. Two ways to document your hours so real estate wins. July 9, 2026 6 min read Contents 1. [01\. The rule that makes 1099 hours matter](#the-rule-that-makes-1099-hours-matter) 2. [02\. Fix number one: put hours on your invoices](#fix-number-one-put-hours-on-your-invoices) 3. [03\. Fix number two: let software track your screen time](#fix-number-two-let-software-track-your-screen-time) 4. [04\. The takeaway for contractors](#the-takeaway-for-contractors) tl;dr REPS requires more than half of your personal service hours to be in real estate, and 1099 contractors have no timesheet to prove the other side of that comparison. Putting hourly rates and hours on every invoice, or using automated screen-time tracking, gives you a dated record of contractor hours so you can prove real estate came out ahead. This one is genuinely tricky, because independent contractors don't have a timesheet. If you are a 1099 contractor trying to qualify for [Real Estate Professional Status](/blog/reps-and-year-end-tax-moves/), you run into a documentation problem that a W-2 employee never has to think about. The fix is straightforward once you understand the specific REPS rule you are up against, and it comes down to proving your hours in two directions at once. ## The rule that makes 1099 hours matter REPS is not just the 750-hour test. There is a second requirement people forget: more than half of all the personal services you perform in every trade or business during the year has to be in real estate. Not just 750 hours in real estate, but more real estate hours than everything else combined. For a 1099 contractor, that is the whole challenge. If your contracting work is a trade or business, its hours go on the "everything else" side of the scale. So if you log 751 hours as an independent contractor, you need at least 752 hours in real estate to keep real estate on top. You have to document both sides, which means you need proof of your contractor hours just as much as your real estate hours. ## Fix number one: put hours on your invoices The simplest move is to invoice by the hour. When you invoice a client, show an hourly rate and the hours worked right on the invoice. Every time you bill, whether weekly, monthly, or quarterly, that invoice becomes a dated record of exactly how many hours you spent in your contractor role. If you send an invoice for 40 hours, you have created contemporaneous proof of 40 contractor hours. Now you can show the IRS precisely how much time you spent as an independent contractor, which is exactly what you need to prove your real estate hours came out ahead. Even if you normally bill a flat fee, restructuring your invoices to show hours turns a billing document into a documentation asset. ## Fix number two: let software track your screen time If your contracting work happens on a computer, there is AI-based time tracking that logs your time automatically while you work. I use this kind of tool myself. It shows how many hours you spent in your contractor role versus your real estate role, so you can see which side of the "more than half" test you are on in real time rather than guessing at year-end. Between the two, the invoice method proves your contractor hours cheaply and the automated tracker keeps a running tally, so you know before December whether real estate is actually winning. ## The takeaway for contractors To summarize: track your contractor hours by putting your hourly rate and hours on every invoice, and consider automated time tracking if your work is on a computer. Then [track your real estate hours](/blog/track-reps-hours/) the same way, deliberately, so you can prove real estate exceeded contracting. The 1099 investor is not blocked from REPS. They just have to document both jobs instead of one. This is educational, not tax advice, and the more-than-half test is where contractor fact patterns get genuinely close, so confirm the details with your CPA. [REPS Time](https://repstime.com) handles the real estate side of the ledger with a timestamped log; pair it with your invoices and you can show both totals side by side. Addicted to ROI is education and community, not financial or tax advice. Talk to a qualified professional before making investment or tax decisions. ![Jennifer Beadles](/images/founders.jpg) Jennifer Beadles Real estate entrepreneur with 17 years of hands-on investing experience. Built an 8-figure rental portfolio across multiple states and has helped thousands of investors build passive income through the Addicted to ROI community. The tool that goes with this ## The software that does this for you [ Hour tracking REPS Time Log your real estate hours as you go and build the contemporaneous, audit-ready record the IRS expects for REPS, instead of reconstructing it in a panic at tax time. Start logging hours ↗ ](https://repstime.com)[ STR test STR Loophole Track the 100-hour and material-participation tests for each short-term rental so the loophole that offsets your active income actually survives an audit. Track my STR hours ↗ ](https://strhours.com) Before you close the tab ## Get the next one in your inbox. One email per new article, the day it goes up. No wall, no spam, unsubscribe in a click. [Subscribe, free →](/newsletter/)[Run a deal in the calculator](/tools/deal-analysis-calculator/) Read next [ ![The Roth IRA Is the Most Wasted Account in Real Estate](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554224155-8d04cb21cd6c?w=800&q=80) Tax Strategies ### The Roth IRA Is the Most Wasted Account in Real Estate 10 min read → ](/blog/self-directed-roth-ira-real-estate-investors/)[ ![How to Avoid Depreciation Recapture When You Sell a Rental Property](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1554224155-6726b3ff858f?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3w5MjA2ODF8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxfHxob3VzZSUyMGZvciUyMHNhbGUlMjBzaWduJTIweWFyZHxlbnwwfDB8fHwxNzgyOTIzODcyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080) Tax Strategies ### How to Avoid Depreciation Recapture When You Sell a Rental Property 12 min read → ](/blog/how-to-avoid-depreciation-recapture-when-you-sell/)[ ![Beyond the Basic 1031: Reverse Exchanges, DSTs, and the BRRRR-to-Exchange Playbook](https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1560184897-ae75f418493e?w=800&q=80) Tax Strategies ### Beyond the Basic 1031: Reverse Exchanges, DSTs, and the BRRRR-to-Exchange Playbook 11 min read → ](/blog/advanced-1031-exchange-strategies/) If you like this ## Read these next Hand-picked to go deeper on tax savings. 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Go build yours.  ~ Jennifer © 2026 Addicted to ROI. Education and community, not financial or tax advice. [Contact Us](/contact/) · [Privacy Policy](/privacy/) · [Terms and Conditions](/terms/) Explore: [Travel](/pillars/travel/) · [Real Estate](/pillars/real-estate/) · [Tax Savings](/pillars/tax-savings/) · [Business](/pillars/business/) Free tools: [Deal Analysis Calculator](/tools/deal-analysis-calculator/) · [Cost Segregation Calculator](/cost-seg-calculator/) · [Average Stay Calculator](/average-stay-calculator/) · [Vehicle Deduction Calculator](/vehicle-deduction-calculator/) · [Free Downloads](/resources-downloads/) [Agents Invest](https://agentsinvest.com) · [DoorProfit](https://doorprofit.com) · [REPS Time](https://repstime.com) · [STR Loophole](https://strhours.com) · [Kids Payroll](https://kidspayroll.com) · [RentStager](https://rentstager.com)