Rental income you receive from real estate and personal property is not subject to self employment tax unless:
You are a real estate dealer, or
You provide services for your tenants.
You are a real estate dealer if you are in the business of selling real estate to customers with the purpose of making a profit from those sales. In this case, rent you receive from real estate held for sale to customers is subject to the self-employment tax.
If you operate hotels, boarding houses, and apartments, the rental income you receive is subject to self-employment tax if you provide services for the occupants, such as maid service, and not just the normal services priovided for occupancy, such as utilities.
Church employees
If you are a church employee you may also be subject to self-employment tax if the church elected an exemption from social security and Medicare taxes. In this case, you are subject to self-employment tax if you receive $108.28 or more in wages from the church.
Self-employed retirees
If you are over the normal retirement age and are self-employed, the self-employment taxes still apply, even if you are already receiving social security benefits.
Self-employment tax for U.S. citizens and resident aliens living outside the U.S.
Resident aliens are subject to the same self-employment tax requirements as U.S. citizens. If you are a self-employed U.S. citizen or resident alien living outside the United States, in most cases you must pay self-employment tax. You should not reduce your foreign earnings from self-employment by your foreign earned income exclusion.
There is an exception for self-employment in countries with which the United States has social security agreements to eliminate double taxation. Under these agreements, you generally must only pay social security and Medicare taxes to the country you live in. This country will issue a certificate which serves as proof of exemption from socialsecurity tax in the other country.