1031 Exchange Rules: Every Requirement in One Place
The 1031 exchange rules from the statute and regulations: real property only, 45 and 180 days, qualified intermediaries, identification, boot, Form 8824.
1031 exchange deadlines
Two dates decide your 1031 exchange. Here are yours.
Enter the day your property sold. The calculator counts the 45 and 180 days, flags when your tax return due date cuts the 180 days short, and puts both dates in your calendar.
Worked example: a sale that closes on Friday, November 6, 2026, no extension.
Identify replacement property by
Mon, Dec 21, 2026
Day 45, midnight.
Receive replacement property by
Thu, Apr 15, 2027
The Form 1040 due date, 20 days before day 180.
Tax-return catch
Day 180 is Wed, May 5, 2027, but the return for 2026 is due Thu, Apr 15, 2027. The exchange period ends on whichever comes first, so without an extension you lose 20 days. Filing Form 4868 by Apr 15, 2027 pushes the due date to Oct 15, 2027 and gives you the full 180 days.
- Day 0Sale closes
- Day 45Identification due
- Day 160Return due
- Day 180Exchange period ends
An estimate for planning, not tax advice. Your qualified intermediary and tax adviser have the final word on your dates.
The tools
01
45/180-day deadline calculator
Both dates, the tax-return catch, weekend warnings and a calendar file.
02What a sale without an exchange costs
Federal capital gains, 25% depreciation recapture, the 3.8% NIIT and your state, or the tax on boot if you exchange.
03Like-kind and related-party checker
Whether the property you sell and the one you buy can qualify, and what changes when family or your own company is on the other side.
04422 DST offerings from SEC filings
Every Delaware statutory trust Form D filed since late 2024: size, amount sold, minimum and broker-dealers. Data, not advice.
What a 1031 exchange is
A 1031 exchange is a swap of one investment or business property for another under section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. Do it right and you pay no tax on the sale now: the gain, including the depreciation you’ve taken, carries over into the replacement property.
The requirements are short. Both properties must be real property held for investment or business use. A qualified intermediary holds the money. You identify the replacement within 45 days and close within 180. And to defer all of the tax, you buy at least as much as you sold and carry at least as much debt, or replace the debt with cash. Anything you keep is called boot, and boot is taxed.
The tools on this site handle the arithmetic for each of those steps. Each page links the statute, regulation, revenue procedure, state law or court opinion behind its numbers.
Guides to the harder questions
Boot in a 1031 Exchange: Cash, Mortgage Boot and Netting
How cash boot and mortgage boot are taxed in a 1031 exchange, the netting rules in Reg. 1.1031(d)-2, exchange expenses, and a worked example.
Qualified Intermediary for a 1031 Exchange: How to Choose One
What a 1031 qualified intermediary does, who can't serve as one, which states regulate QIs, and what to check about bonds, accounts and withdrawals.
Depreciation Recapture on Rental Property: 25% Rate and 1031
How depreciation recapture on rental property is taxed: unrecaptured 1250 gain at up to 25%, 1245 recapture, NIIT, a 2026 example, and how a 1031 defers it.
Drop and Swap 1031: Exchanging Out of a Partnership or LLC
How a drop and swap works when a partnership owns the property, the held-for-investment risk, Magneson and Bolker, Rev. Proc. 2002-22, and California.
DST 1031 Exchange: Rev. Rul. 2004-86 Rules and Limits
How a Delaware statutory trust works as 1031 replacement property: the limits in Rev. Rul. 2004-86, accredited investor rules, Form D, and identification.
Questions people ask
What is a 1031 exchange?
A 1031 exchange lets you sell real estate held for investment or business use and put off the tax on the gain by buying other real estate held the same way. The sale money goes to a qualified intermediary, not to you, and the replacement has to be identified within 45 days and received within 180.
Does a 1031 exchange avoid tax for good?
It defers it. Your old basis carries into the new property, so the gain, including past depreciation, waits inside the replacement. The deferral becomes permanent only if you hold until death, when your heirs generally get a stepped-up basis under current law.
Can I exchange my house?
Not the part you live in. A 1031 exchange covers property held for investment or for use in a business. A home you have rented out can qualify, and a home that was both can sometimes use section 121 and section 1031 together.
Do I need a qualified intermediary?
In practice, yes. If you touch the sale money, even for a day, the exchange is over. The intermediary holds the funds under a written exchange agreement so you never have actual or constructive receipt.
Financing a replacement property?
Janover Capital, which runs this site, arranges commercial loans that have to close inside your 180 days. Send a financing request or a plain question about your exchange.