It’s official. The tax reform bill was passed in Congress and will become law effective 2018 once signed by the President.
The very good news is that 1031 advocacy efforts were successful for real estate! There will be no changes in the tax code for like-kind exchanges of real estate.
However, starting Jan 1, 2018, all personal property assets (such as autos, trucks, heavy equipment, farm machinery, artwork, collectibles and intangibles like fast-food restaurant franchise licenses) will no longer qualify for Section 1031 tax-deferral treatment. If you could benefit from an exchange of a personal property asset, you can still qualify if 1) you enter into the exchange before year-end and 2) either the relinquished property is sold OR the replacement property is acquired by the taxpayer by 12/31/17.
Many thanks go out to all who tirelessly helped throughout this process of advocating for preservation of Section 1031 through meetings, calls, letters and more. Everyone helped and every bit of help mattered. Congratulations to us all!