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Due to economic factors or life changes, investors who have held vacation rental property for many years can face significant tax liabilities when they sell it. Federal long term capital gain tax rates can be anywhere from 15 to 20%. The unearned income tax rate is 3.8%, and a depreciation recapture at 25% could be incurred. Additionally, state tax rates will also apply. Adding it all up, a potential tax liability upwards of around 39% can come as a rude surprise for most investors. 

So what other options do investors have to limit or defer their tax liability? One option is to convert the use of the property into your primary residence. Another is to do a 1031 Exchange.

There are always issues with closing costs associated with 1031 exchanges. All exchangers want to have their closing costs paid with 1031 proceeds without creating a taxable event. Some closing costs paid by exchange proceeds are allowable by the I.R.S., while others are taxable. The I.R.S. Revenue Ruling 72-456 specifies, for example, that if exchange funds are used to pay a broker’s commissions, it does not ruin a 1031 exchange. 

Here’s a list of specific exchange expenses that are allowed by most tax advisors:

Sometimes an investor exchanging multiple Old Properties into a single New one can have timing issues if one of the sales falls through. For example: say an investor begins the 1031 exchange process by selling two Old Properties, but one of the sales falls through due to an inspection or mortgage loan issue. If this failure happens right before the New Property purchase date, it can cause major dilemmas.

But there’s a solution! To gain an extra 180 days to complete the sale of the Old Property you can set up a Reverse Exchange within a simple deferred exchange transaction, thus saving your exchange!

The Tax Reform Act of 2017 created “Qualified Opportunity Zones” to promote investments in low income communities across the United States. The Qualified Opportunity Fund, or, “QOF,” was created to give investors capital gains tax reduction or elimination to encourage economic growth in specific areas. There are two similarities between QOFs and 1031 Exchanges: 1. they’re both tax-gain deferral strategies (and sometimes even tax elimination!), and 2. the investments must be made within 180 days from the sale of the Old Property. There’s where the similarities end. If a taxpayer decides to invest in a QOF after starting a 1031 Exchange with a Qualified Intermediary, the access to the 1031 proceeds is limited until one of two things happen: 1. If no replacement 1031 property is identified by the investor by the forty-fifth day of the exchange, the funds can be released on the forty-sixth day of the exchange. OR 2.