1031 Exchange Calculator
Deferred gain, boot, carryover basis and both hard deadlines as real dates. 100% free, no signup. Everything runs in your browser.
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This 1031 exchange calculator answers the two questions people actually have: how much gain am I deferring, and how much tax do I still owe right now. Enter your sale price, selling costs, original purchase price, improvements, accumulated depreciation, old mortgage payoff, replacement property price, new mortgage and any cash you take out. It returns adjusted basis, realized gain, cash boot, mortgage boot, recognized gain that is taxable now, deferred gain, and the carryover basis you inherit in the replacement property. It also estimates the tax bill, split into depreciation recapture at 25 percent, federal capital gains at the rate you pick, the optional 3.8 percent net investment income tax and your state rate.
It also turns your sale date into the two dates that decide everything: the 45 day identification deadline and the 180 day closing deadline. I built this because the first time I looked at an exchange I assumed the rule was simply to reinvest the profit, which is wrong and is exactly how people accidentally create boot. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. This is arithmetic on your assumptions, not tax advice, and a CPA should confirm anything that goes on your return.
How to use
- Enter the sale price of the property you are relinquishing and your selling costs, including commission and title fees.
- Enter the original purchase price, any capital improvements you made, and the accumulated depreciation you have claimed.
- Enter the payoff balance on the mortgage being retired at closing.
- Enter the replacement property price, the new mortgage you are taking on it, and any cash you intend to pull out of the deal.
- Set your tax rates: the federal capital gains bracket of 0, 15 or 20 percent, whether the 3.8 percent net investment income tax applies, and your state rate.
- Enter the closing date of the sale to generate the 45 day and 180 day deadlines as real calendar dates.
- Read the results: realized gain, boot, recognized gain, deferred gain, carryover basis and the estimated tax on anything recognized.
Why use our 1031 exchange calculator?
Splitting boot into cash boot and mortgage boot is the part most calculators skip, and it is where deals go wrong. Cash boot is money you walk away with. Mortgage boot is debt relief, and it appears when the new loan is smaller than the one you paid off, even if you never touched a dollar. Trading down on debt creates taxable gain just as reliably as pocketing cash, which surprises almost everyone the first time.
The tax estimate is broken apart rather than lumped into one number, because the pieces are taxed differently. Depreciation recapture comes first at up to 25 percent, then federal capital gains at your bracket, then the net investment income tax if it applies to you, then state. Seeing the stack makes it obvious why a deferred exchange is worth the paperwork. The IRS overview of like kind exchanges is the right primer to read alongside this.
Carryover basis is shown because deferral is not forgiveness. Your new property starts with the old basis adjusted for the deal rather than its purchase price, which means a smaller depreciation deduction going forward and a larger gain the day you eventually sell without exchanging. The rental depreciation calculator picks up from there.
The deadlines print as actual dates because 45 days and 180 days sound generous and are not. Both run from the day your sale closes, they run concurrently rather than one after the other, and they include weekends and holidays. Missing the identification date by one day usually ends the exchange.
What I refuse to add is anything that says you qualify. Qualification depends on facts a form cannot see, including how the properties are held and used. Nothing you enter here leaves your browser, which also means I could not check your eligibility even if I wanted to.
Who is this tool for?
Deciding whether an exchange is worth doing at all is the first use. Run the numbers as a straight sale, look at the tax total, and compare that against intermediary fees and the pressure of a 45 day identification window. On a modest gain the tax saved sometimes does not justify the constraints, and it is better to learn that before you engage anyone.
Sizing the replacement property is the second, and this is where the tool changes decisions. Move the replacement price and new mortgage until recognized gain reads zero, and you have found the floor for a fully deferred exchange. As a rule of thumb, buying equal or greater in both price and debt keeps boot out of the picture.
Planning a partial exchange is perfectly legitimate. If you need cash out of the deal, enter it, see exactly what it costs in tax, and decide whether that price is acceptable. A partial exchange is a choice, not a failure, as long as you know the number before closing rather than in April.
Comparing the exchange against selling outright and redeploying elsewhere is the last one. Estimate the tax here, then check the walk away figure with the seller net proceeds calculator and run the replacement candidate through the rental property calculator. A worse property bought for tax reasons is still a worse property.
Frequently asked questions
A provision that lets you defer capital gains tax when you sell investment or business real estate and reinvest in like kind real estate, following strict rules on timing and how the money is handled. The gain is postponed, not erased.
Yes, and this is the point people miss. A qualified intermediary must be engaged before your sale closes. If the proceeds touch your hands or your own bank account, the exchange is generally dead and no calculator can undo it.
You have 45 days from closing to identify replacement property in writing, and 180 days from that same closing to complete the purchase. They overlap rather than run in sequence, calendar days count, and they are effectively immovable.
Anything you receive in the exchange that is not like kind property. Cash boot is money out of the deal. Mortgage boot is a reduction in your debt. Either one creates gain that is taxable in the year of the sale.
No. Section 1031 applies to property held for investment or business use. A primary residence follows a different set of rules entirely.
In a fully deferred exchange, yes, it rides along in the deferred gain and follows you into the new property's basis. If you take boot, recapture is usually the first thing taxed.
It is a clean estimate from the rates you enter, and it does not model passive loss carryforwards, alternative minimum tax, state specific quirks or your full return. Treat it as a planning figure and have a CPA confirm the real one.
Completely. The calculation runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and no account or email is required.