1031 Exchange: Basics of Tax-Free Portfolio Growth Strategy

For real estate investors engaged in property transactions, understanding the 1031 tax-deferred exchange is crucial. This exchange enables investors to sell one property and acquire another while deferring capital gains taxes.

Let’s say as an investor you sold an investment property and gained significant net proceeds to reinvest in another property. However, after capital gains tax, depreciation recapture, net investment income tax, and many other such deductions, you lose a considerable amount to the government and are left with just a portion of your profit for re-investment. To avoid this tax loss, the IRS offers the 1031 exchange strategy that allows investors to push off the taxes legally and have the entire proceeds accessible for investment in the subsequent property.

What is a 1031 Exchange?

A 1031 exchange helps investors avoid a substantial tax burden when selling a property. Through a 1031 exchange, investors can postpone their capital gains tax liability resulting from the sale of a property by acquiring another property of equal or higher value.

How Multifamily Investors Benefit from a 1031 Exchange?

1031 exchange strategy helps investors diversify their portfolios while avoiding tax liabilities. Multifamily investors can benefit from the 1031 exchange in the following ways:

1.       Tax-free capital growth

By reinvesting the proceeds from the sale of a property into a like-kind property, investors can postpone paying taxes on the capital gains, potentially allowing for increased investment growth. There are no time limitations on these exchanges, and they can be conducted repeatedly, enabling tax-free capital growth opportunities.

2.       Diversification

Diversifying investment across asset types and in different geographies helps reduce potential risk. 1031 exchange allows tax-free investing of the sale proceeds across different assets in different regions. For example, suppose you have a single retail property and you are worried about the future of retail investments. In that case, you can sell the property and invest the proceeds in multifamily or diversify in different regions, thus securing your investment without having to pay any capital gains tax.

3.       Trade-up to acquire higher-value properties

1031 exchange is an excellent method to invest in properties with higher returns while avoiding tax liabilities.

4.       Wealth accumulation with compound interest strategies

Compounding involves reinvesting your investment returns to generate additional returns over time. With the 1031 exchange, tax-free proceeds can be used to make a down payment on larger investments. This technique yields an exponentially rising graph of cash flow, thus cascading the profits earned via multifamily investing.

5.       Defer paying depreciation recapture taxes

Depreciation recapture is the tax provision where the IRS recaptures the depreciation tax deductions that the investors took on a property, but later sold for a profit. This is calculated using the adjusted cost basis obtained by subtracting the original property cost from the depreciation tax benefits obtained. If this adjusted cost basis is more than the selling price of the property, the IRS recaptures the depreciation deductions using the depreciation recapture procedure.

However, with the 1031 exchange, the investors can defer this depreciation recapture deduction and invest the full capital gains in another property.

Requirements for Successful Execution of 1031 Exchange

Like-kind property

To implement the 1031 strategy for deferring taxes, the property you reinvest in must be of the like-kind to the property sold. However, the like-kind property need not be exactly the same. In general, any real estate asset can be considered “like-kind” to another, as long as both properties are used for business, trade, or investment purposes. Additionally, properties do not necessarily have to be in the same asset class, in the same region (as long as they are in the US), or of the same quality. A few examples of “like-kind” exchange are a multifamily for an industrial building, a single-family for a multifamily, an apartment building for a shopping center, and so on.

So what does not qualify as like-kind? According to the IRS, property used primarily for personal use, like a primary residence or a second home, or a vacation home, does not qualify for like-kind exchange treatment.

Two critical time constraints: 45 days identification window and 180 days exchange window

According to the guidelines of the 1031 exchange code, taxpayers are granted an identification period of 45 days, starting from the date of the sale of their previous property. Within this period, taxpayers must formally identify the replacement property in writing.

The completion of the exchange must occur within 180 days after the sale of the original property.

Greater or equal value exchange: The 200% and 95% rule

Per the IRS rules, the investors must identify at least 3 properties during the identification window. They can acquire one, two, or three properties ultimately. However, if the investor wants to identify more than 3 properties, then the 200% rule comes to play. This rule allows for an unlimited number of properties to be identified, as long as their combined value does not exceed 200% of the value of the originally sold property.

According to the 95% rule, the exchanger is permitted to identify multiple properties without considering the sale price of the sold property, as long as they successfully acquire and complete transactions on at least 95% of the total value they initially identified within the 180-day exchange window.

Same taxpayer rule

The individual who sells the property must be the exact same person, as determined by their tax identity, who assumes ownership of the replacement property.

Qualified Intermediary

The IRS requires the process of a 1031 Exchange to be documented and managed by the Qualified Intermediary (QI) to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations of the exchange. QI is responsible for generating documentation that demonstrates a taxpayer’s intention to initiate a 1031 exchange. The QI holds the proceeds from the sale of the property and then transfers those funds to acquire the replacement property, thus preserving the tax-deferred status of the exchange.

Conclusion

1031 exchange makes for a good business strategy, as you use the entire sale proceeds to build long-term wealth without having to lose any money to the government. If you are contemplating the utilization of a 1031 exchange to invest in a real estate syndication, it is crucial to engage a qualified intermediary and seek guidance from your tax advisor. This will ensure a comprehensive understanding of the obligations and consequences associated with the transaction.