The decision to utilize the benefits of a 1031 Exchange can be determined with the help of your CPA or Accountant. They will determine for you how much taxes you would pay in selling your property outright. This determination will be based on your adjusted basis in your property and the normal capital gains liability that would occur. Your CPA will help you determine the amount of taxes that would be due to depreciation recapture, which is currently taxed at a maximum rate of 25%. This tax rate is higher than the portion attributed to depreciation.

Normal appreciation can be determined by your CPA or accountant from the natural increase in the value of your property. Normal appreciation is currently taxed at a maximum rate of only 15%. If you are in a state with an income tax or state capital gains tax, your CPA might also determine the amount of state and municipal tax liability.

Once all of the tax liabilities have been determined, an informed decision can be made as to whether to sell the property outright or to utilize the benefits of a 1031 Exchange. Typically, the cost of doing a 1031 Exchange is far less than the tax bill if you just sold the property outright.

The first step in taking advantage of a 1031 Exchange is to contact a Qualified Intermediary. The Qualified Intermediary will advise you of the need for a written purchase agreement signed by you as the seller and your purchaser. This agreement establishes your desire to sell your relinquished property as part of a 1031 Exchange.

In addition, it is a good idea to add a stipulation or clause in the purchase agreement stating that you want to complete a 1031 Exchange with regards to the property and that the purchaser agrees to cooperate with such. You have now laid the basic groundwork for the closing. For sample cooperation clause go to www.1031podcast.com.

At the closing, the sale will become complete. The deed crosses the desk to the purchaser, and the net sales proceeds are paid directly to the Qualified Intermediary. This starts the 1031 countdown. The day after the closing is considered "day one" in the forty-five day identification period. During the forty-five days, you must identify in writing the property that you want to purchase as your replacement property. This "day one" is also the start of the 180 day exchange period that you have to complete the 1031 exchange and acquire your replacement property.

In summary, the first step is to work with your CPA or accountant to determine what the capital gains tax will be (including depreciation recapture and state and local taxes.) At this point, you will decide if the 1031 Exchange will be of benefit to you. A Qualified Intermediary can help you and your CPA or accountant realize the full potential of the 1031 Exchange process. The next step is to document your intent to sell the property to your purchaser as well as your desire to complete a 1031 Exchange by inserting text in your purchase agreement.

If you have all of these things done, you can start the processes of deferring taxes and keeping your money working for you.

U.S. investors can save a lot of money by using 1031 exchange 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

Although 1031 Exchanges are primarily used to shift our equity from one property to another, there are ways of recovering some of that equity for use as leisure or further investment purposes. There are two ways to recover money from your property - before or after the 1031 Exchange is completed.

1031 rationale requires all of the proceeds from the sale to pass to the Qualified Intermediary. This prevents you from receiving any cash benefit from the sale. There may be times, however, when you would like to use some of your equity for your own entertainment or investments. If you decide to refinance your property shortly before the 1031 exchange and use that equity for your own entertainment, you may run afoul of the IRS.

We have tax case IRS versus Garcia which tells us that the refinance must be done well prior to the 1031 Exchange. Garcia tried to avoid taxes and ran afoul of the 1031 rationale and the IRS. He ran into problems because he refinanced just before the 1031 Exchange and tried to take proceeds without paying the taxes. Therefore, you can't take out equity unless you pay taxes on it.

In order for you to avoid the Garcia issue, you may decide to refinance the replacement property. In post-exchange financing, taxpayers may not want to leave all of their equity in the replacement property - some want to take out that equity and buy more real estate. However, how long should you wait after completing the 1031 exchange before you take out the equity in the replacement property?

The nanosecond refinance is waiting just long enough after the 1031 to show the IRS, through the closing statement, that you've re-invested all of your equity into the replacement property. In a separate transaction, a new settlement statement is used to show that the replacement property was encumbered with new debt via a loan or mortgage, then there is a cash payment from the lender to you. Thus, there is a pool of money you can access after the exchange.

Whether the nanosecond exchange is legal is debatable. There are risks because there is no definitive IRS rule regarding how long you have to keep the equity in the replacement property. The conservative school of thought says to keep the money in the replacement property in order to avoid the Garcia trap. In this case, keep the equity in the replacement property until the following tax year, or until two years have passed from the 1031 exchange to the ultimate refinance.

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

There are a lot of investors that end up making the mistake of selling their business or investment property but have to pay thousands of dollars in capital gains taxes to the IRS. What they may not know that there are tax laws that provide them the ability to defer all of the capital gains taxes on the sale of property which has been held as a trade or business - thereby retaining their gain.

This law defers (and can even eliminate the capital gains taxes) you would typically need to pay when selling business or investment property. The money that is made on the sale of your business or investment property, must also be used only to purchase another "like-kind".

When you take advantage of the 1031 exchange laws, you can save a lot of money, thereby allowing you to leverage your equity by purchasing even more property (which may have not been possible without the added tax savings).

A benefit to many investors, the 1031 exchange law has the potential to save you a boat-load of money, and is worth the time an effort to put to use. To start reaping these financial rewards, you much follow some procedures first.

Be sure that you select qualified intermediary (A.K.A. "Q.I.") with a solid track record and professional reputation. Dealing exclusively with doing 1031 exchanges, a Qualified Intermediary is an expert with the facilitation of such a deal.

Your Q.I. provides a written agreement to change the transfer from and outright sale to an "Exchange" then transfers your relinquished property (that you are selling) and takes that money and uses it to purchase your replacement property on your behalf.

You must abide by the following 1031 rules to qualify for an exchange:

1. Firstly, the investment property that you are replacing must have been used for investment purposes or use in a trade or business and must be "like-kind" (i.e. US real estate for other US real state).

2. Second, you must find a replacement property if you haven?t already, clearly identify it in writing to your Q.I. it within 45 days. It is necessary to close on the sale on the replacement property within one 180 days.

3. To defer your capital gains taxes, all of the proceeds from the sale of the first property must be used to purchase your new replacement property.

Follow these 1031 rules and you will be in the best position to faciliate your exchange. The procedure is simple enough but even if the path seems a little complicated from time to time, it will be well worth it with the money you will save. Do yourself a favor and keep your capital gains by using a 1031 exchange instead!

Before you move to sell, you should carefully considerable the possibility of instead making a 1031 exchange. That's right; section 1031 and the indefinite tax deferral it grants apply not only to the buying and selling of real estate, but also to personal property, including - you guessed it - classic cars. Though this tactic is widely used in the real estate business, it is a tremendous blessing to car collectors, who face significantly higher capital gains liabilities on their transactions.

While an exchange involving personal property is conducted in much the same way as a real estate exchange, it is important to note that in a personal property exchange, one has less leeway in terms of what will fulfill like-kind requirements. If you are exchanging a car, you will only be able to exchange it for another car of equal or greater value. The same rule applies to any piece of personal property used in an exchange.

When making an exchange on personal property, however, you must be careful that you are complying with like-kind requirements. Unlike an exchange on real estate, in which there is some leeway in terms of what will qualify as like-kind, personal property exchanges are held to a stricter reading of these requirements.

Keep this in mind during your exchange, and you will be sure to come out ahead, and will have that 28 percent of your proceeds safely reinvested instead of lost to capital gains taxes.

U.S. property investors can save big money by utilizing a 1031 exchange to defer all of their capital gains tax on the sale of investment property. A 1031 tax exchange is almost like getting an interest free loan from Uncle Sam!