Reference, Appendix A
Chronology of Statutes, Regulations, and Rulings
This chronology lists in date order the statutes, regulations, and administrative guidance that shaped section 1031. It also includes a small number of judicial decisions that changed how the provision operates, and the reform proposals the treatise examines.
Reviewed by Nicholas A. Henault, Esq. on October 23, 2026. This reference is general information about section 1031, not tax or legal advice for your transaction. Talk to your own tax adviser or attorney before you rely on it.
Prepared by the BlueLion 1031 exchange team
Each entry cites its authority and the treatise section where it is discussed. Appendices B, C, and D list the same materials by name or by type.
Enactment dates for public laws since 1954 are taken from the source credit and statutory notes to 26 U.S.C. § 1031 published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel. Publication dates for Treasury decisions are taken from the source notes in the Code of Federal Regulations. Where an entry gives only a year, the sources the treatise relies on did not supply a more precise date. Treasury decisions that amended the section 1031 regulations but are not cited in the treatise are included for completeness and are marked as such.
A.1 The revenue acts, 1919 to 1954
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| Date | Development | Authority | Discussed at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | The Revenue Act of 1918 treats property received in an exchange as the equivalent of cash to the amount of its fair market value, subject to an exception for certain stock or securities received in corporate reorganizations. | Revenue Act of 1918, ch. 18, § 202(b), 40 Stat. 1057, 1060 (1919) | 4.1 |
| 1921 | The Revenue Act of 1921 provides that no gain or loss is recognized on an exchange unless the property received has a readily realizable market value. Even then, an exchange of property held for investment or for productive use in trade or business for property "of a like kind or use" is not taxed. | Revenue Act of 1921, ch. 136, § 202(c), 42 Stat. 227, 230 | 4.1 |
| Mar. 4, 1923 | An amending act, effective as of January 1, 1923, excludes from the like-kind rule, for property held for investment, stock, bonds, notes, choses in action, certificates of trust or beneficial interest, and other securities or evidences of indebtedness or interest. | Act of Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 294, §§ 1-2, 42 Stat. 1560; H.R. Rep. No. 1740, 67th Cong., 4th Sess. (1923) (Conf. Rep.) | 4.1 |
| 1924 | The Revenue Act of 1924 makes recognition the general rule and restates the exception: property held for productive use in trade or business or for investment must be exchanged "solely for property of a like kind to be held either for productive use in trade or business or for investment." The readily realizable market value test and the words "or use" disappear. | Revenue Act of 1924, ch. 234, § 203(a), (b)(1), 43 Stat. 253, 256; H.R. Rep. No. 179, 68th Cong., 1st Sess. (1924); H.R. Rep. No. 844, 68th Cong., 1st Sess. (1924) (Conf. Rep.) | 4.2 |
| 1928 | The Revenue Act of 1928 renumbers the rule as section 112(b)(1), within a subsection headed "Exchanges solely in kind." | Revenue Act of 1928, ch. 852, § 112(b)(1), 45 Stat. 791, 816 | 4.3 |
| 1934 | Section 112(b)(1) is reenacted in the same words. | Revenue Act of 1934, ch. 277, § 112(b)(1), 48 Stat. 680, 704 | 4.3 |
| 1939 | The Internal Revenue Code of 1939 reenacts section 112(b)(1) in the same words. | Internal Revenue Code of 1939, ch. 2, § 112(b)(1), 53 Stat. 1, 37 | 4.3 |
| Aug. 16, 1954 | The Internal Revenue Code of 1954 recodifies the rule as section 1031 and gathers into it the nonrecognition, boot, loss, and basis rules previously found in sections 112 and 113 of the 1939 Code. The committee report states that no substantive change is made. | Internal Revenue Code of 1954, ch. 736, § 1031, 68A Stat. 302; H.R. Rep. No. 1337, 83d Cong., 2d Sess. A268 (1954) | 4.4 |
A.2 Amendments and regulations, 1958 to 1971
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| Date | Development | Authority | Discussed at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 2, 1958 | Section 1031(d) is amended to provide that basis is decreased in the amount of any loss recognized, together with clerical changes. | Technical Amendments Act of 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-866, § 44, 72 Stat. 1641 | 4.4 |
| Sept. 22, 1959 | References to section 1037(a) are added to section 1031(b), (c), and (d). | Pub. L. No. 86-346, § 201(c)-(e), 73 Stat. 624 | 4.4 |
| Nov. 26, 1960 | Sections 1.1031(a)-1, 1.1031(b)-1, and 1.1031(d)-1 of the income tax regulations are published. | T.D. 6500, 25 Fed. Reg. 11910 | 10.1 |
| Nov. 17, 1967 | Sections 1.1031(a)-1, 1.1031(b)-1, and 1.1031(d)-1 are amended, and section 1.1031(c)-1 is added. | T.D. 6935, 32 Fed. Reg. 15822 | 10.1 |
| Dec. 30, 1969 | Section 1031(e) is added, providing that livestock of different sexes are not property of a like kind. | Tax Reform Act of 1969, Pub. L. No. 91-172, § 212(c)(1), 83 Stat. 571 | 4.4 |
| Sept. 22, 1971 | Section 1.1031(e)-1, on exchanges of livestock of different sexes, is published. | T.D. 7141, 36 Fed. Reg. 18792 | 10.1 |
A.3 The deferred exchange and the anti-abuse rules, 1979 to 1990
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| Date | Development | Authority | Discussed at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | The Ninth Circuit holds for the taxpayer on all but two parcels in a deferred exchange of timberland and declines the government's request to treat transfers separated by a substantial period of time differently. The decision ends the premise that an exchange must be simultaneous. | Starker v. United States, 602 F.2d 1341 (9th Cir. 1979) | 5.2 |
| 1980 | The Fifth Circuit approves an exchange that closed simultaneously and quotes Starker on contract rights, while expressly declining to accept or reject Starker's ultimate holding. | Biggs v. Commissioner, 632 F.2d 1171 (5th Cir. 1980) | 5.2 |
| July 18, 1984 | Section 1031(a) is rewritten in three paragraphs, and partnership interests are added to the excluded property. New paragraph (3) treats replacement property as not of like kind unless it is identified before the day which is 45 days after the transfer and received by the earlier of 180 days after the transfer or the due date, with extensions, of the return for the year of the transfer. The periods apply to transfers after the date of enactment, with transition rules for earlier transfers. | Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, Pub. L. No. 98-369, § 77, 98 Stat. 595-96; H.R. Rep. No. 98-432, pt. 2 (1984); H.R. Rep. No. 98-861 (1984) (Conf. Rep.) | 5.3, 5.4 |
| Oct. 22, 1986 | A technical amendment changes "before the day" to "on or before the day" in section 1031(a)(3)(A). | Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-514, § 1805(d), 100 Stat. 2810 | 5.3 |
| July 18, 1988 | Temporary regulation section 1.1031(d)-1T is published. | T.D. 8215, 53 Fed. Reg. 27044 | 10.1 |
| Dec. 19, 1989 | Subsections (f), (g), and (h) are added: the two-year rule for exchanges between related persons, its suspension while the holder's risk of loss is substantially diminished, and the rule that real property in the United States and real property outside the United States are not of like kind. The amendments apply to transfers after July 10, 1989, with an exception for binding contracts. | Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, Pub. L. No. 101-239, § 7601, 103 Stat. 2370-71; H.R. Rep. No. 101-386 (1989) (Conf. Rep.) | 6.1, 9.4, 9.5 |
| May 16, 1990 | Treasury proposes regulations on deferred exchanges and exchanges of partnership interests. | IA-237-84, 55 Fed. Reg. 20278 | 5.5 |
| Nov. 5, 1990 | The related person definition is extended to relationships described in section 707(b)(1), for transfers after August 3, 1990. An interest in a partnership with a valid election under section 761(a) is treated as an interest in each of the partnership's assets, for transfers after July 18, 1984. | Pub. L. No. 101-508, §§ 11701(h), 11703(d), 104 Stat. 1388-508, 1388-517 | 5.4, 6.1 |
A.4 The modern regulations and safe harbors, 1991 to 2008
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| Date | Development | Authority | Discussed at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr. 12, 1991 | Sections 1.1031(a)-2, on exchanges of personal property, and 1.1031(j)-1, on exchanges of multiple properties, are published. | T.D. 8343, 56 Fed. Reg. 14854 | 10.1 |
| May 1, 1991 | Final regulations on deferred exchanges are published, including the identification and receipt rules, four safe harbors, and the qualified intermediary. They apply to transfers on or after June 10, 1991, and taxpayers may apply either the final or the proposed rules to transfers on or after May 16, 1990. | T.D. 8346, 56 Fed. Reg. 19933, 1991-1 C.B. 150 | 5.5, 10.2, 10.4 |
| Apr. 20, 1994 | Sections 1.1031(b)-2 and 1.1031(k)-1 are amended to coordinate the safe harbors with installment reporting. The installment rules apply to transfers on or after April 20, 1994. | T.D. 8535, 59 Fed. Reg. 18749 | 10.2, 10.4 |
| Aug. 5, 1997 | Section 1031(h), previously limited to real property, is rewritten to address foreign real and personal property, for transfers after June 8, 1997, with an exception for binding contracts. | Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, Pub. L. No. 105-34, § 1052, 111 Stat. 940-41 | 6.1, 9.5 |
| June 25, 1999 | Section 1031(d) is amended so that an assumption of liabilities is determined under section 357(d), for transfers after October 18, 1998. | Pub. L. No. 106-36, § 3001(c)(2), 113 Stat. 183 | 9.3, 34.1 |
| Jan. 7, 2000 | Sections 1.1031(d)-1T and 1.1031(j)-1 are amended. Not cited in the treatise. | T.D. 8858, 65 Fed. Reg. 1237 | |
| Oct. 2, 2000 | Revenue Procedure 2000-37 establishes the safe harbor for qualified exchange accommodation arrangements, for property whose qualified indicia of ownership the titleholder acquires on or after September 15, 2000. | Rev. Proc. 2000-37, 2000-40 I.R.B. 308 | 6.3, 30.2 |
| 2000 | The Service announces that it will not rule on whether undivided fractional interests in real property are interests in an entity while it studies the question. | Rev. Proc. 2000-46, 2000-2 C.B. 438 | 6.3 |
| Feb. 13, 2001 | Sections 1.1031(d)-1T and 1.1031(j)-1 are amended. Not cited in the treatise. | T.D. 8940, 66 Fed. Reg. 9929 | |
| Feb. 1, 2002 | Section 1.1031(k)-1 is amended to narrow the definition of disqualified person following changes in federal banking law. | T.D. 8982, 67 Fed. Reg. 4907 | 5.5, 10.2 |
| Apr. 8, 2002 | Revenue Procedure 2002-22 states the conditions under which the Service will consider a ruling request that an undivided fractional interest in rental real property is not an interest in a business entity. It supersedes Revenue Procedure 2000-46. | Rev. Proc. 2002-22, 2002-14 I.R.B. 733 | 6.3, 21.2, 21.3 |
| 2002 | The Service rules that a taxpayer who acquires replacement property formerly owned by a related person through a qualified intermediary, on facts in which the related person receives the sale proceeds for that property, is not entitled to nonrecognition. | Rev. Rul. 2002-83, 2002-49 I.R.B. 927 | 6.2, 41.1 |
| June 2, 2003 | Revenue Procedure 2003-39 provides safe harbors for programs of ongoing exchanges of tangible personal property using a single intermediary. | Rev. Proc. 2003-39, 2003-22 I.R.B. 971 | 7.2, 7.3 |
| Aug. 13, 2004 | Section 1.1031(a)-2 is amended. Not cited in the treatise. | T.D. 9151, 69 Fed. Reg. 50068 | |
| Aug. 16, 2004 | Revenue Ruling 2004-86 holds that a Delaware statutory trust on the ruling's facts is an investment trust and that real property may be exchanged for an interest in it. Revenue Procedure 2004-51 limits the reverse exchange safe harbor to the question of beneficial ownership and makes it unavailable for replacement property the taxpayer owned within the prior 180 days, for transfers on or after July 20, 2004. | Rev. Rul. 2004-86, 2004-33 I.R.B. 191; Rev. Proc. 2004-51, 2004-33 I.R.B. 294 | 6.3, 6.4, 21.4, 30.2 |
| Feb. 14, 2005 | Revenue Procedure 2005-14 provides guidance on applying section 121 and section 1031 to the same exchange. | Rev. Proc. 2005-14, 2005-7 I.R.B. 528 | 43.1, 43.2 |
| 2005 | The Tax Court holds that exchanges made through an intermediary for replacement properties owned by a related corporation, which ended up with the cash, were structured to avoid the purposes of section 1031(f). | Teruya Bros., Ltd. v. Commissioner, 124 T.C. 45 (2005) | 6.2, 41.4 |
| May 19, 2005 | Sections 1.1031(a)-2 and 1.1031(j)-1 are amended. | T.D. 9202, 70 Fed. Reg. 28820 | 32.1 |
| Dec. 21, 2005 | A technical amendment is made to section 1031(h)(2)(B). Not cited in the treatise. | Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-135, § 412(pp), 119 Stat. 2640 | |
| Mar. 10, 2008 | Revenue Procedure 2008-16 provides a safe harbor under which the Service will not challenge whether a dwelling unit qualifies as property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment, for exchanges on or after March 10, 2008. | Rev. Proc. 2008-16, 2008-10 I.R.B. 547 | 12.4, 43.5 |
| June 18, 2008 | Section 1031(i) is added, providing that shares in certain mutual ditch, reservoir, or irrigation companies are not stocks for purposes of the exclusion. Identical provisions enacted on May 22, 2008, in Pub. L. No. 110-234 are repealed. | Heartland, Habitat, Harvest, and Horticulture Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-246, tit. XV, § 15342, 122 Stat. 1664, 2280 | 7.1, 8.3 |
| July 10, 2008 | Section 1.1031(k)-1 is amended in connection with the regulations on exchange funds. | T.D. 9413, 73 Fed. Reg. 39614 | 5.5, 10.2 |
A.5 Related-party litigation, the 2017 restriction, and proposals for reform, 2009 to 2026
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| Date | Development | Authority | Discussed at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Ninth Circuit affirms Teruya, holding that the taxpayer and its related party must be treated as an economic unit that used the exchanges to cash out of an investment in low-basis property. Certiorari is denied in 2010. | Teruya Bros., Ltd. v. Commissioner, 580 F.3d 1038 (9th Cir. 2009), cert. denied, 559 U.S. 939 (2010) | 6.2, 41.4 |
| 2009 | The Tax Court reaches the same result on similar facts in Ocmulgee Fields, and the Eleventh Circuit affirms in 2010. | Ocmulgee Fields, Inc. v. Commissioner, 132 T.C. 105 (2009), aff'd, 613 F.3d 1360 (11th Cir. 2010) | 6.2, 41.4 |
| Mar. 30, 2010 | Section 7701(o) codifies the economic substance doctrine. | Pub. L. No. 111-152, § 1409(a), 124 Stat. 1067 | 42.3 |
| Oct. 4, 2010 | Notice 2010-62 gives interim guidance on section 7701(o) and states that Treasury and the Service do not intend to issue general administrative guidance on the types of transactions to which the economic substance doctrine applies or does not apply. | Notice 2010-62, 2010-40 I.R.B. 411 | 42.3 |
| 2011 | The Supreme Court holds that review of tax regulations is guided by Chevron to the same extent as review of other regulations. | Mayo Found. for Med. Educ. & Rsch. v. United States, 562 U.S. 44 (2011) | 11.1 |
| Nov. 21, 2013 | The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee releases a staff discussion draft on cost recovery and accounting that would repeal section 1031 for exchanges made in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2014. | S. Comm. on Finance, Chairman's Staff Discussion Draft on Cost Recovery and Accounting (Nov. 21, 2013) | 64.1, 64.3 |
| Feb. 26, 2014 | The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee releases the Tax Reform Act of 2014 as a discussion draft, and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation publishes estimates of its revenue effects, including repeal of like-kind exchanges. | Staff of the Joint Comm. on Taxation, JCX-20-14 (Feb. 26, 2014) | 62.2, 64.1 |
| Mar. 2014 | The Administration's fiscal year 2015 budget proposes limiting the gain deferred under section 1031 from exchanges of real property to $1,000,000 per taxpayer per taxable year, indexed for inflation. | U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2015 Revenue Proposals (Mar. 2014) | 2.2, 64.2 |
| 2014 | Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis publishes The Tax Treatment of Like Kind Exchanges. | U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis, The Tax Treatment of Like Kind Exchanges (2014) | 2.1, 62.1 |
| Dec. 10, 2014 | The Tax Reform Act of 2014 is introduced as H.R. 1. Its section 3133 would strike section 1031 for transfers after December 31, 2014, except for a transfer under a written binding contract entered into before January 1, 2015, as part of an exchange completed before January 1, 2017. The bill is not enacted. | Tax Reform Act of 2014, H.R. 1, 113th Cong. (2014) | 64.1 |
| Feb. 2015 | The fiscal year 2016 budget adds a proposal making art and collectibles ineligible for exchange. | U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2016 Revenue Proposals (Feb. 2015) | 64.2, 64.3 |
| Feb. 2016 | The fiscal year 2017 budget extends the proposed $1 million annual cap to all gain deferred under section 1031. | U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2017 Revenue Proposals (Feb. 2016) | 64.2 |
| 2016 | The Tax Court upholds a parking arrangement outside Revenue Procedure 2000-37. | Estate of Bartell v. Commissioner, 147 T.C. 140 (2016) | 30.5, 66.2 |
| 2017 | The Service recommends nonacquiescence in Bartell and states that a taxpayer who, outside the revenue procedure, acquires the benefits and burdens of ownership of the replacement property before transferring the relinquished property has not engaged in an exchange. | A.O.D. 2017-06 | 11.3, 30.6, 66.2 |
| Dec. 22, 2017 | Section 1031 is limited to real property for exchanges completed after December 31, 2017, except where the relinquished property was disposed of, or the replacement property received, on or before that date. The exclusion in subsection (a)(2) is rewritten to cover only real property held primarily for sale, the livestock and mutual ditch rules are struck, the rule for partnerships electing out of subchapter K moves to a new subsection (e), and subsection (h) becomes a rule for foreign real property alone. The same Act expands bonus depreciation. | Pub. L. No. 115-97, §§ 13201, 13303, 131 Stat. 2054, 2105-08, 2123-24 (2017); H.R. Rep. No. 115-409 (2017); H.R. Rep. No. 115-466 (2017) (Conf. Rep.) | 7.1, 7.2, 7.4 |
| Dec. 10, 2018 | Revenue Procedure 2018-58 lists time-sensitive acts whose performance may be postponed for federally declared disasters. Its section 17 governs postponement of the section 1031 and reverse exchange deadlines. | Rev. Proc. 2018-58, 2018-50 I.R.B. 990 | 26.4 |
| Sept. 24, 2019 | Final regulations under section 168(k) on bonus depreciation are published. | T.D. 9874, 84 Fed. Reg. 50129 | 7.4 |
| June 12, 2020 | Treasury proposes regulations defining real property for purposes of section 1031. | REG-117589-18, 85 Fed. Reg. 35835 | 8.1, 14.1 |
| Nov. 10, 2020 | The bonus depreciation regulations are amended. | T.D. 9916, 85 Fed. Reg. 71753 | 7.4 |
| Dec. 2, 2020 | Final regulations add section 1.1031(a)-3, defining real property, drop the proposed "purpose or use" test, adopt the State-or-local-law test, and add the incidental personal property rule to section 1.1031(k)-1(g)(7). They apply to exchanges beginning after December 2, 2020, and taxpayers may rely on the proposed regulations, followed consistently and in their entirety, for exchanges beginning after December 31, 2017, and before December 2, 2020. | T.D. 9935, 85 Fed. Reg. 77365 | 8.2 through 8.4, 14.1, 17.1 |
| Feb. 22, 2021 | A correction to T.D. 9935 revises preamble text, including a sentence in the discussion of the State law test, and changes no regulatory text. | Statutory Limitations on Like-Kind Exchanges; Correction, 86 Fed. Reg. 10457 | 14.1 |
| May 2021 | The fiscal year 2022 budget proposes allowing deferral of no more than $500,000 of gain per taxpayer each year, or $1 million on a joint return, on exchanges of real property. The proposal is carried through the fiscal year 2025 budget. | U.S. Dep't of the Treasury, General Explanations of the Administration's Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals (May 2021), through Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals (Mar. 11, 2024) | 8.5, 64.2 |
| Sept. 27 and Nov. 19, 2021 | Neither the version of H.R. 5376 reported in the House nor the version the House passed amends section 1031. | H.R. 5376, 117th Cong. (2021) | 8.5 |
| 2022 | Pennsylvania incorporates the requirements of section 1031 into its personal income tax for exchanges occurring in tax years beginning after December 31, 2022. | Act of 2022, No. 53, P.L. 531, § 4 | 57.4 |
| 2024 | The Supreme Court overrules Chevron. | Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024) | 11.1, 66.4 |
| July 4, 2025 | Pub. L. No. 119-21 restores the 100 percent bonus depreciation allowance for property acquired after January 19, 2025, and amends the opportunity zone rules. It does not amend section 1031. | Pub. L. No. 119-21, §§ 70301, 70421, 139 Stat. 188-89, 223 | 7.4, 8.5, 47.2 |
| 2025 | The Billionaires Income Tax Act is introduced in the Senate. For an individual whose income exceeded $100 million, or whose covered assets exceeded $1 billion, in each of the three preceding years, it would treat an exchange to which section 1031 applies as a sale. | S. 2845, 119th Cong. (2025) | 8.5, 64.3 |
| Oct. 1, 2025 | Amendments to California Revenue and Taxation Code section 18031.5 take effect. | Stats. 2025, ch. 231, § 58 (S.B. 711) | 57.3 |
| Dec. 29, 2025 | The Comptroller of Maryland's Technical Bulletin No. 58, on the taxation of individual capital gain income, takes effect. | Comptroller of Maryland, Technical Bulletin No. 58 | 57.2, 58.5, 61.1 |
| Apr. 13, 2026 | The Comptroller of Maryland issues a tax alert on the rate of withholding on sales of real property by nonresidents and on eligibility for a tentative refund. | Comptroller of Maryland, Tax Alert TA-13-APR-2026 | 59.1, 61.1 |
| Dec. 31, 2026 | The repeal of the rule deeming every low-income community census tract in Puerto Rico to be a designated opportunity zone takes effect, and amendments to section 1400Z-2 apply to amounts invested in qualified opportunity funds after that date. | Pub. L. No. 119-21, § 70421, 139 Stat. 223-27 | 47.2, 48.4 |
Reviewed byNicholas A. Henault, Esq.Managing Director of BlueLion 1031 and a Maryland attorney whose practice covers real estate and real estate tax planning. University of Maryland School of Law; Cornell University. Full bio
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