COVID-19 and Section 1031: Anticipating IRS Extension Relief

Anyone who is in a section 1031 exchange, could have trouble finishing such exchange due to the current situation caused by COVID-19. The IRS appears to have authority to extend the section 1031 45-day and 180-day time periods, but they haven’t done so yet. This short piece considers what exchangers might do while they wait for hoped-for extensions from the IRS. The COVID-19 situation raises issues that differ from other federally declared disasters that have resulted in extensions of the section 1031 deadlines (i.e., COVID-19 is a national, not regional, issue and COVID-19 does not destroy property in the manner that fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, and other typical natural disasters do). The attached paper provides some thoughts regarding what exchangers and their advisors might consider as they wait for the IRS to issue guidance related to the time periods. Update: On April 9, 2020, the IRS published Notice 2020-23, extending the section 1031 deadlines for exchangers whose deadlines expire between April 1, 2020, and July 15, 2020.