Any income or losses that cannot be classified as passive. Nonpassive income includes any type of active income, such as wages, business income or investment income. Nonpassive losses include losses incurred in the active management of a business. Nonpassive income and losses are usually declarable and deductible in the year incurred.



Nonpassive income and losses cannot be offset with passive losses or income. For example, wages or self-employment income cannot be offset by losses from partnerships or other passive activities. Conversely, nonpassive losses cannot be offset by passive income from partnerships or other sources of income in which the taxpayer is not a material participant.