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The IRS has just issued a new ruling that sets forth the guidelines for those taxpayers that wish to do a 1031 exchange involving a vacation home. While I believe that the IRS intends that the ruling will put to bed all of the controversy surrounding this issue, it will certainly create more controversy than it settles.

By way of background, you can only exchange property held for investment or used in a trade or business. Personal use property, such as a residence, does not qualify for an exchange; so the question is: are vacation homes investment property or personal use property? Up until last year there was no guidance from the IRS that said that vacation homes do not qualify for an exchange, but that changed when the U.S. Tax Court disallowed a taxpayer’s exchange from one vacation home into another.

Around the end of most years I write a column predicting what you are likely to see in the 1031 arena over the following 12 months. I recently spent an afternoon in a meeting with one of the people responsible for Section 1031 of the tax code for the IRS. Based on that meeting, what follows are my predictions of changes to look for during the next year.

Tightening of the requirements for qualified intermediaries -The IRS knows that they have problems with what they call “Accom-modating Accommodators.” These people are qualified intermediaries (QI) who are pretty loose with the requirements of a 1031 exchange. The problems range from these QIs regularly allowing clients to do 1031 exchanges on fix-and-flips, to their allowing clients to change their identification letter after the 45th day. The IRS knows they are out there, but it is not always easy for them to tell who these intermediaries are.

The market for fractional ownership of commercial real estate (popularly known as Tenants-In-Common or TICs) is expanding its reach -- and look out!

These new ownership programs allow individuals, who normally may not have access to the institutional real estate market, to buy interests in large scale commercial real estate. In March, 2002, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2002-22 which set forth the conditions and guidelines under which the IRS will allow a small group of single owners to invest into large real estate projects such as: office buildings, apartment complexes, shopping centers, even the neighborhood Wal-Mart store. But there are some inherent drawbacks, such as no established secondary market for selling your TIC interest, resulting in a less liquid investment.

These are crazy, uncertain times. If you’re selling a property, do you know what to do? Do you sell it and pay the tax, or do you roll the dice on a 1031 exchange? Is this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take your gain at a low tax rate (as low as we may see for awhile)? Or is paying the tax simply a waste of money? What if I told you there is a way to take the guesswork out of your decision?

As I write this, McCain and Obama are neck and neck in the race to see who will be the next President of the United States. The one who wins will probably be the one who is able to sway the greatest number of undecided voters to his side. Typically the undecided don’t make up their minds until the last minute, which means that this race looks like it could go down to the wire.