As reported in my November 2014 blog post, President Obama’s administration wants to limit taxpayers’ ability to defer income under IRC § 1031. In response to former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp’s proposed Tax Reform Act of 2014, which would have eliminated IRC § 1031 altogether, the Obama administration proposed to retain the code section, but limit deferral with regard to real property exchanges to $1 million per taxpayer each tax year. Personal property exchanges, under the President’s proposal, would go unscathed.
In 2015, President Obama expanded his proposal relative to IRC § 1031 to limit personal property exchanges by excluding certain types of property from the definition of “like kind.” The excluded personal property included items such as collectibles and art. The President’s proposed $1 million real property exchange limitation was left intact.
Fast forward to today. No tax reform legislation has gained enough traction to even come close to being enacted into law. Nevertheless, President Obama’s attack on IRC § 1031 continues. In the administration’s 2017 budget proposal (released a few months ago), the White House expands its quest to limit the application of IRC § 1031. This proposal is identical to President Obama’s original response to former Chairman Camp’s 2014 tax reform proposal, but it goes further. Now, the President is proposing that the $1 million limitation apply to both personal and real property exchanges. In addition, like his 2015 proposal, President Obama wants to exclude certain personal property, collectibles and art, from the definition of “like kind.”
I am not sure any real logic or significant tax policy supports the White House’s latest proposal to limit the application of IRC § 1031. Rather, the proposal appears to be solely aimed at tax revenue generation. According to the Treasury, the proposal, if enacted into law, would increase tax revenues by $47.3 billion over 10 years.
IRC § 1031 is clearly on lawmakers’ radar screens as a means to increase tax revenues. Time will tell whether IRC § 1031 will be repealed or significantly curtailed in its application. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure: IRC § 1031 remains a potential target. Stay tuned!
PrincipalLarry is Chair of the Foster Garvey Tax & Benefits practice group. He is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. Larry's practice focuses on assisting public and private companies, partnerships, and high-net-worth ...
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Larry J. Brant
Editor
Larry J. Brant is a Shareholder and the Chair of the Tax & Benefits practice group at Foster Garvey, a law firm based out of the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York, Spokane, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Beijing, China. Mr. Brant is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. His practice focuses on tax, tax controversy and transactions. Mr. Brant is a past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section. He was the long-term Chair of the Oregon Tax Institute, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Portland Tax Forum. Mr. Brant has served as an adjunct professor, teaching corporate taxation, at Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College. He is an Expert Contributor to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Catalyst. Mr. Brant is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. He publishes articles on numerous income tax issues, including Taxation of S Corporations, Reasonable Compensation, Circular 230, Worker Classification, IRC § 1031 Exchanges, Choice of Entity, Entity Tax Classification, and State and Local Taxation. Mr. Brant is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national tax and business conferences for CPAs and attorneys. He was the 2015 Recipient of the Oregon State Bar Tax Section Award of Merit.
