Will a 1031 Exchange help avoid capital gains tax on an inherited home? When you inherit a home and use it as a rental property, you could face major tax implications when it comes time to sell unless you use a 1031 exchange.
Q: Will a 1031 exchange help avoid capital gains tax on an inherited home? My mother who was very ill and on Social Security sold me her residence for $1.00 just in case something happened to her. We ended up moving her in with us until she died.
Her home was vacant and we decided to rent it out. But the time has come that we can no longer keep this up and need to sell it. We are worried about any capital gains taxes and want to take the money received from the sale to help pay down an existing home equity mortgage we have on our primary residence that also has attached rental units.
I’ve heard about a 1031 exchange. Could I apply it in this case?
Will a 1031 Exchange Help Avoid Capital Gains Tax on an Inherited Home?
A: A tax-deferred exchange (also referred to as a 1031 exchange or Starker trust) is in its basic form the sale of an income-producing property with the purchase of a replacement income-producing property. While in the past, the IRS Code allowed exchanges of property other than real estate, that might change in the near future depending on what changes in the law are considered as a part of tax reform.
1031 Exchanges are for Investment Properties
When it comes to completing a 1031 exchange, you have to own a property that was held for investment purposes. To sell the property:
- You generally will use an exchange company to facilitate the sale and purchase of the replacement property.
- That company is usually considered to be an “intermediary exchange” company.
- You will still need your own attorney, settlement agent and title company to help out.
- Using an exchange company will satisfy certain IRS requirements.
Proceeds from the sale go to the 1031 exchange company
At that point, you’ve completed the first part of a 1031 exchange. There are strict rules about timing and price to follow to complete your 1031 exchange:
- You have no more than 45 days to find and notify the exchange company of the property you intend to buy as your replacement property
- You have no more than 180 days to close on that replacement property.
- The replacement property sales price usually needs to be the same or higher than the sales price of the property you sold.
Those are the basics, but there are other intricate rules that you must follow to get the tax advantage you are seeking. If you qualify for a tax-deferred exchange, on the sale of the property, you get to defer the payment of all taxes on the sale of the old property, including any recapture of depreciation you might have and capital gains taxes.
1031 Exchange Conditions and Purchase Considerations
We’re a bit concerned that the property was vacant for a while and we don’t know how you treated the property for income tax purposes when you purchased it. We also don’t know how your mom treated the “sale” of the home to you. Your question raises a number of issues from an income tax perspective from your mom’s side and your side as well.
We’ll have to ignore those issues and talk about the 1031 issues instead. You’ll have to talk to your accountant, tax advisor or Enrolled Agent to get more information about the federal tax issues you might have.
The IRS May Question a 1031 Exchange Between Closely Related Parties
Buying the property for $1 is the same as if your mother simply gave you the property. Essentially, when you sell all of the proceeds will be profit.
Let’s assume your association with your mother doesn’t impair your ability to utilize a 1031 exchange. Here’s the next 1031 exchange test:
- If you kept the property as an investment for many years
- Treated the property as an investment
- Had every intent to use and keep the property for investment purposes
If these things are true, you might qualify and sell the property using a 1031 exchange. When you sell the property, you use the intermediary, buy a replacement property and defer the payment of taxes down the line. The replacement property must also be a property you intend to own for investment purposes.
If at any point in the course of reviewing the facts of your situation, you fail the test under Section 1031 of the IRS code, you won’t get the benefit of deferring taxes and the sale could give you substantial gain.
Did Your Mom Gift You The Property or Sell It To You?
One last item: we don’t know if the “sale” of the property to you was intended as a true sale or whether your mom really gifted the home to you. If your mom gifted the home to you, your basis — or cost — in the home might be what your mom paid for the home. If what she paid for the home is about what the home is now worth, you might not have much tax to pay when you sell it.
This is why we tell our readers to think carefully before they give, sell, or quitclaim property.
Your situation is complicated. Please talk to a tax advisor about your situation. Also, talk to a specialist in 1031 exchanges. Those specialists can help you understand the transaction and tell you whether your situation fits the requirements of a 1031 exchange. They may also refer you to a tax advisor with 1031 exchange experience.
I bought my parents home in 1993 and gave them a life estate to live in the home with exclusive possession during their natural life.
My Mom has now died. My Dad is 95 years old and now lives in Cleveland Ohio. He can no longer lives alone. My Mom was removed from the home 10 years ago to a nursing home. The home has been occupied by my his granddaughter to watch the home, plus she had been foreclosed on. The market had fallen so bad in Florida I could not sell the house . The market has bounced back. The granddaughter does not pay rent. She is not a renter. My Dad lives with me in Cleveland. We live in my nieces home. This home in Florida should of been my primary home but since Hurricane Charlie in 2004 my husband then died. So, I have no primary but this home in Florida that my Dad has the living estate is mine. He will sign his right over to me. He is no longer going to go back. He was a snowbird for 20 years in this home. Along with me driving him there every year. The taxes and insurance are being paid by my Dad.
The house is now being sold. Who should get the capitol gain? I am now a widow at 66 years old. With no home in my name. My Dad is 95 and a widower with just this living estate in his name.
We live with my niece in her home in Cleveland. We would like to take this money and buy her home from her and make the Cleveland home our Primary. With both our spouses now deceased we will not return to Florida.
The house in Florida is $165,000. The house in Cleveland is $105,000. Neither of us lived a full two years in this home. in Florida.
Having the mother sell her home for $1 to her child was a terrible mistake. Even gifting the property is a bad idea if the mother’s cost is much lower than the fair market value. The best situation is inheriting the property. The basis to the son or daughter would be the fair market value at the time of death. If the house is sold shortly thereafter then there would be no capital gain.