Can Oil and Gas Be Exchanged With a 1031?

A 1031 is all about exchanging real estate. But what is defined as “real property” by the IRS and various states isn’t limited to just houses and condos. A fun fact, for instance, is that oil and gas can qualify as real estate.

The production of oil and gas involves access to the property that the resources are on and the rights to extract those resources from the land. This means that while the oil and gas are on the property they are treated like real estate and can be exchanged. Mineral, Water rights, and timber function in the same way, though whether they are considered real estate varies from state to state.

The beautiful part of this is that with a 1031 like-kind exchange, oil and gas can exchanged for any other real estate. If you’re tired of collecting royalty payments in cold cold Ohio, why not exchange it for a vacation rental in sunny Florida? A 1031 exchange has the power to free you and broaden your investment portfolio.

How Much Do I Need to Reinvest With a 1031?

When you begin hunting down replacement properties for your 45 day list, it is important to keep in mind how much you need to reinvest while carrying out a tax deferred exchange. The IRS has a two-part requirement laid out for reinvestment with a 1031. The first one is that in order to defer all taxes you must purchase at least as much as your “net sale”, the contract price minus closing costs or the total left before any mortgage is paid off. The second one is that you must use all the “net proceeds” in your next purchase. This means that if there was a mortgage, subtract the mortgage that was paid off and the difference is your net proceed.

If you choose to take cash out or purchase less than what you sold, the unused proceeds will become taxable to the IRS. The proceeds that were reinvested in your exchange will remain sheltered from capital gains tax. You have an immense amount of freedom when it comes to allocation of your proceeds. Just because you sold a single-family home, doesn’t mean that you need to reinvest in another single-family home. A 1031 is also not necessarily a one to one process, it is the valuations that are the key. If you want to sell a single property and reinvest in multiple properties, you have the power to do so. Just remember that if you wish to defer all capital gains tax you will need to make sure that your reinvestment uses all of your proceeds.