IRS Proposes Rule on Like-Kind Exchanges

Multifamily
Published

The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft regulation to define a like-kind property that is held for investment, trade or business purposes under Section 1031 of the tax code (governing like-kind exchanges). The IRS will accept comments through Aug. 11.

A like-kind exchange under U.S. tax law is a tax-deferred transaction that allows for the disposal of an asset and the acquisition of another similar asset without generating tax liability from the sale of the disposed asset.

Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Section 1031 was limited to real property. Existing statute and regulations do not define real property for purposes of Section 1031. Determination of real property is instead accomplished using definitions obtained elsewhere in the tax code.

In addition to defining real property, the regulation seeks to clarify how taxpayers should treat certain receipts of personal property that is incidental to the real property received.

NAHB will continue to analyze the proposed regulations and plans to submit comments after a careful review.

Subscribe to NAHBNow

Log in or create account to subscribe to notifications of new posts.

Log in to subscribe

Latest from NAHBNow

Sponsored Content

Jan 20, 2026

Smart Sourcing, Smarter Basis: How AI Is Changing Land Acquisition

For decades, the process of screening off-market sites has remained painfully slow. But a shift is happening as top-tier land teams are moving away from manual data aggregation and toward AI-driven workflows to eliminate non-viable sites in minutes.

Economics | Material Costs

Jan 16, 2026

Building Material Price Growth Remains Elevated Despite a Sluggish Market

Residential building material price growth continued to climb toward the end of 2025, even as the new home construction market showed signs of slowing.

View all

Latest Economic News

Economics

Jan 20, 2026

New Single-Family Home Size Trends: Third Quarter 2025

New single-family home size has been generally falling since 2015 as a response to declining affordability conditions. An exception occurred when new home size increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022 and 2023, and housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended lower.

Economics

Jan 20, 2026

Third Quarter 2025 Multifamily Construction Data

According to NAHB analysis of quarterly Census data, the count of multifamily, for-rent housing starts increased during the third quarter of 2025. For the quarter, 119,000 multifamily residences started construction. Of this total, 114,000 were built-for-rent.

Economics

Jan 19, 2026

Soft Conditions for Single-Family Built-for-Rent

Single-family built-for-rent construction fell back in the third quarter of 2025, as a higher cost of financing and increased multifamily supply crowded out development.