1031 exchange question

No.

Ira Smilovitz, EA

=========I agree. The reason is you already have an ownership interest in the replacement. Furthermore, a "promise" to improve real-estate property is not a qualified TANGIBLE asset that can be exchanged.

I was assuming the improvement would be completed properly, re timing.

And if taxpayer were to acquire an un-owned partial interest in property he already had a partial ownership interest in, the 1031 for the partial interest would still work, I believe.

However, my hunch is that my proposed scenario would not qualify for

1031 treatment.

Someone could lease the property, build the house, and then sell the house to the owner of the property.

The issue would be whether the property sold would be "like kind" to a building on leased property. I don't know, but it seems to me it could go either way.

You may be right. See, for instance,

It discusses PLR 201408019. The facts aren't identical, but the conclusion reached in the PLR goes further than I would have expected. Ira Smilovitz, EA