By James Brennan, Exchange Solutions Group L.L.C.

In the last 12 months, creative REIT executives were provided a map to improve taxation for their business.

By James Brennan, Exchange Solutions Group L.L.C.

Often the assumption is made that closing costs will be subsidized by 1031 Exchange proceeds. However, while some of these costs certainly can be bankrolled by the tax deferred exchange, some cannot. Knowing the difference can keep your transaction out of hot water.

By James Brennan, Exchange Solutions Group L.L.C.

Often the assumption is made that closing costs will be subsidized by 1031 Exchange proceeds. However, while some of these costs certainly can be bankrolled by the tax deferred exchange, some cannot. Knowing how to avoid these expenses can keep your transaction out of hot water.

By James Brennan, Exchange Solutions Group:

Commercial real estate executives have adopted like-kind exchanges as a default mechanism included in purchases and sales. However, along with underlying real estate assets developers and investors often lose valuable opportunities to defer capital gains taxes.

By James Brennan, ES Group: The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are finalizing an approach to lease accounting that will impact deal-making in the not so distant future. The new standard, set to come into play in 2011, will shoot a hole in the sails of credit-rated sale-leasebacks and triple-net leases just as they have been gaining back some momentum in 2010. The changes would impact new leases and current leases going forward.

There are times when a developer may want to sell one of his properties and invest its proceeds in another he or she owns. In the past the IRS forbade 1031 exchanges in such cases; however, today there are specific, although narrow, paths that are accepted by the tax advisory community. The acceptable strategy is known as an Advanced Construction Exchange and has been upheld by private letter rulings and delineated in a Revenue Procedure.