Estimate the capital gains tax you can defer with a Section 1031 like-kind exchange, including depreciation recapture and cash "boot" — then get your exact 45-day identification and 180-day closing deadlines. Built for U.S. real estate investors.
Deferred tax & deadline tracker
A 1031 exchange (named after Section 1031 of the tax code) lets a real estate investor sell an investment property and reinvest the proceeds into a "like-kind" replacement property while deferring capital gains tax and depreciation recapture. You don't eliminate the tax — you postpone it, keeping more capital working in your next deal. Investors who keep exchanging can defer indefinitely, and a step-up in basis at death can wipe the deferred gain out entirely.
Two deadlines are absolute and the IRS does not extend them: you have 45 days from the sale of your old property to formally identify replacement candidates, and 180 days total to close on the new property. To defer 100% of the tax, you must reinvest all the net proceeds and acquire property of equal or greater value. Any cash you keep or reduction in value is "boot" — and boot is taxable. This calculator shows your deferred tax, any taxable boot, and both deadline dates.
Identify replacement property in writing within 45 days of closing your sale. No extensions, weekends included.
Close on the replacement within 180 days of the sale (or your tax-return due date, if earlier).
Cash taken out or buying down in value triggers tax on that portion — the rest stays deferred.
You can't touch the proceeds. A QI must hold the funds between sale and purchase, or the exchange fails.
For American real estate investors, the 1031 exchange is the single most powerful tool for building wealth tax-deferred — and "1031 exchange calculator," "45 day 180 day rule," and "how to defer capital gains on real estate" are searched constantly across the United States. By rolling the proceeds of an investment-property sale into a like-kind replacement, you defer federal capital gains tax and depreciation recapture, keeping far more capital working in your next deal. This tool estimates your deferred tax and tracks both IRS deadlines to the day.
The two deadlines are unforgiving: 45 days to identify replacement property and 180 days to close, with a qualified intermediary holding the funds in between. Buying equal or greater value defers 100% of the tax; taking cash ("boot") is taxable. Enter your sale closing date to get your exact identification and closing deadlines on a clear timeline.
An investor sells a rental for $750,000 with a $400,000 basis, $45,000 of selling costs, and $90,000 of depreciation. Selling outright would trigger roughly $65,000+ in federal capital-gains tax and depreciation recapture. By exchanging into an $800,000 replacement and reinvesting all proceeds, that tax is fully deferred — and the 45-day identification and 180-day closing deadlines are calculated automatically.
U.S. real estate investors, landlords, and property owners selling rental, commercial, or investment real estate who want to defer capital gains tax by reinvesting into like-kind replacement property.
A Section 1031 exchange defers capital gains tax when investment real estate is swapped for other investment real estate of like kind. Deferral, not forgiveness — the basis carries over to the replacement property, so the gain resurfaces on a later taxable sale. Two deadlines govern everything and neither can be extended: replacement property must be identified within 45 days of closing the sale, and the purchase must complete within 180 days. Both run concurrently and include weekends and holidays. Any cash or debt relief received — "boot" — is taxable immediately.
Realised gain = Sale price − adjusted basis − selling costsDeferred if: replacement value ≥ relinquished value AND all equity reinvestedBoot = cash received + debt relief not replaced — taxable nowNew basis = Replacement price − deferred gainwhere:
Assumptions: Applies to real property held for investment or business use only; personal residences and property held primarily for resale do not qualify. Since 2018 personal property exchanges no longer qualify at all.
Compute the deferred tax, then show what a small amount of boot costs.
Result$119,000 of tax deferred — but taking $60,000 of cash costs $14,280
The deferral compounds if repeated, and under current law a step-up in basis at death can eliminate the deferred gain entirely — the "swap till you drop" strategy. The 45-day identification deadline is the practical risk: it is short, immovable, and failing it makes the whole gain taxable.