How To Close Real Estate Expenses With A 1031 Tax Exchange

By Brian J. Scott

The closing of a sale on real estate property involves a number of expenses that may draw off from your proceeds and reflect themselves on the closing statement. Some of these are the standard operating expenses or the ones used for your agent's commission and the recording of the deed. But during the proceedings, additional expenses may also arise like security deposits and rent proration.

These sorts of expenses don't seem to fit on your typical closing statement, and for good reason. Some costs are appropriate to debit off your closing statement during a 1031 exchange transaction, and there are some that most certainly are not.

In changing ownership, you also transfer future rent and security deposits to the property's new owner. Getting the amount from your own account to cover said expenses can be the most suitable way to deal with this. You can not debit said expenses from your closing statement because in the process, you are freeing money from your account and using 'boot' from the transaction's proceeds.

Any cash benefit or boot you receive from the sale is not considered part of a like-kind exchange, and investors who have attempted this have found themselves facing IRS litigation.

Fees on loan origination, underwriting, and processing all must be dealt with as part of your acquiring possession on new debt on your replacement property. Since they do not form part of a like-kind exchange, the most sensible thing to do is to be the one responsible on these expenses.

This article would like to emphasize the importance of being extra cautious in your 1031 exchange transactions. In case you are tempted to receive non like-kind proceeds or cash benefits from 1031 exchange, put in mind that the IRS may run after you and are actually looking closely on these types of transactions. - 23167

About the Author:

Investors in the U.S. can save a lot of money by utilizing 1031 exchanges to defer all of their capital gains tax on the sale of investment property. A 1031 tax exchange is similar to an interest free loan from Uncle Sam.