Time spent on those activities won’t help them beat the passive loss rules, the Tax Court says. Real estate pros who spend over 50% of their working hours and 750 or more hours a year materially participating in real estate as developers, landlords and the like are exempt from the rule barring write-offs of passive losses. But time spent on properties with average rental periods of seven days or less is not counted when determining if the 750-hour test is satisfied. It doesnt matter that the filer materially participates in the activity.