Free 1031 exchange calculator. Estimate deferred capital gains, taxable boot, depreciation recapture, and the cash you keep when you roll into your next property.
Estimated deferred gain
Pick a tool. Enter your numbers. See the tax you keep out of the IRS's hands, at least for now.
Enter sale price, basis, and mortgage. The calculator shows deferred gain, any taxable boot, and cash available to reinvest.
Work it out →What the tax bill looks like when you sell without rolling into a replacement. Sometimes the comparison is persuasive.
Work it out →The 25% Section 1250 bite on depreciation you claimed over the years. It defers with a 1031, but it does not go away.
Work it out →Your exact 45-day ID deadline and 180-day closing deadline, calculated from any sale date.
Work it out →The portion of a partial exchange that the IRS still wants to tax. Usually cash left over or a smaller new mortgage.
Work it out →Five calculators sit on this site and most visitors only need one. If you already have a sale price, a basis, and a rough idea of the replacement property, start with the 1031 exchange calculator. It runs the whole exchange at once: gain, boot, recapture, and cash left to reinvest.
If you have not decided whether to exchange at all, the capital gains tax calculator answers a narrower question: what would this cost me if I just sold and paid the tax? Investors comparing a 1031 against a straight sale usually run this one first, then the exchange calculator second, and look at the gap between the two numbers.
Already mid-exchange with a qualified intermediary holding your funds? The timeline calculator takes your closing date and returns the 45-day identification deadline and the 180-day purchase deadline, both counted in calendar days with no extensions for weekends or holidays. Landed on a replacement that costs less than what you sold, or pulled cash out at closing? Run the boot calculator to see what portion of that is taxable this year rather than deferred. And if depreciation is the part you are unsure about, the depreciation recapture calculator isolates just that piece: the 25% bite under Section 1250 that follows you into the replacement property whether you exchange or not.
Every number here treats your relinquished and replacement properties as investment or business real estate, not a primary residence. A 1031 exchange only works on property held for investment or business use. It also assumes a completed exchange, meaning a qualified intermediary holds the sale proceeds from closing on the old property through closing on the new one. If you touch that money directly at any point, even briefly, the exchange is void and the full gain becomes taxable in the year of sale.
The tax rates are current federal figures: depreciation recapture at 25% under Section 1250, and long-term capital gains at up to 20% plus the 3.8% net investment income tax for higher earners, for a combined ceiling of 23.8%. None of this includes state tax. States that tax capital gains as ordinary income add their own rate on top, and that can run into double digits depending on where the property sits. Check the capital gains tax by state page and add your state's rate to whatever the calculator shows for the full picture.
The most common mistake is treating the 45-day window as a soft deadline. It is not. The clock starts on the day you close on the sale and it does not pause, and missing it by even one day means the exchange fails outright, not partially. The three-property rule lets you name up to three replacement candidates of any value, which is the standard way experienced investors build in a backup if their first choice falls through financing or inspection.
The second mistake is assuming a smaller replacement purchase is fine as long as some money moves. It is not. To defer the entire gain, the replacement property's price and the debt on it need to equal or exceed what you gave up on the sale. Buy something cheaper, take on a smaller mortgage, or pocket leftover cash, and that shortfall becomes boot, taxable in the year of the exchange even though the rest of the gain still defers. Run your specific numbers through the boot calculator before you sign anything, not after.
The third mistake is skipping the qualified intermediary because a deal seems simple. There is no version of a 1031 exchange where you can hold the sale proceeds yourself, even in your own escrow account, even for a weekend. The IRS treats any direct control over the funds as a completed sale. A QI is not optional paperwork; it is the mechanism that makes the deferral legal in the first place.
No. "Like-kind" is broad for real estate: any investment or business real property qualifies for any other, so an apartment building can exchange for raw land, or a rental house for a retail unit. The type of use matters less than the fact both are held for investment or business.
Not the part you live in. A 1031 exchange applies to investment or business property. A primary residence has its own capital gains exclusion under a different section of the tax code, and the two do not combine on the same property.
The exchange fails. There is no extension for weekends, holidays, or paperwork delays, and the full gain becomes taxable in the year of the original sale, as if no exchange had been attempted.
No, it defers it. The gain and any depreciation recapture carry forward into the replacement property's basis. If you eventually sell without exchanging again, that deferred amount becomes taxable then, unless the property passes to heirs, who receive a stepped-up basis at death.
Yes. Every tool on this site uses the same current federal figures: 25% depreciation recapture, and up to 23.8% combined long-term capital gains and net investment income tax. State tax is calculated separately.
A qualified intermediary's fee and process can vary more than people expect for what looks like a standardized service. Run your numbers here first, then get quotes from two or three intermediaries before picking one. The math on this page tells you what is at stake. It does not tell you who to hire.