Can I use a 1031

[Greg Lee]

I'm selling some vacant land in the very near future (Next week) and I'm trying to figure out what to do with the money to not get hammered with taxes. It was something that was not on my radar.... I don't need to use the money in the near future but will if necessary. It's about $186K. I really need to build savings, IRA, retirement because I'm way behind for that at my age... Thank you in advance

[David M.]

@Greg Lee

First lets check:  is your profit on the expected sale $186k?  Or, is the land worth $186k?  What did you pay for it?  Did you make any improvements?

With the sale next week, you've got some stuff to put in place.  You need to find a QI to handle the funds.  You or your attorney can't receive the funds.  It has to be held by a QI.  Don't forget the timings...  @Dave Foster can explain all that better...

Instead of potentially pushing a bad position, you do realize the long term capital gains tax is 15% on the PROFIT, not the proceeds.  Yeah, it sucks to be taxed, but make sure you are doing the 1031 for the right reasons to meet your strategy.