There are many expenses involved in the closing of a sale on real estate. There are the standard operating expenses, such as your agent's commission and the recording of the deed, which siphon money out of your proceeds and appear on the closing statement, but there are also the various oddball expenses that arise during the proceedings, some common examples of which are rent proration and security deposits.

Any proceeds or cash benefits you receive from a 1031 transaction are known as boot. Boot is not part of a like-kind exchange, and is therefore considered taxable.Closing on a sale will always carry associated costs such as agents' commissions and deed recording fees. It is acceptable to debit these off on your closing statement, because they do not represent any extra cash benefits for you. Expenses such as prorated rent and security deposits that must be transferred to the new owner are another story.

The correct way to deal with these is to write the owner a check from your own operating account. Debiting these expenses to your closing statement would result in a cash benefit in that money in your operating account would be freed for your use, and this money is considered to be boot.

In the process of a 1031 exchange, you will also face expenses related to the acquisition of new debt on your replacement property. Loan origination fees, underwriting fees, and processing fees are not part of a like-kind exchange and the money must come out of your own property.

The message you should take away from this article is that it is best to simply pay these kinds of expenses out of your own account rather than making a risky attempt to walk out of a 1031 exchange with extra cash in your pocket. The IRS has pursued litigation against investors who have tried these kinds of tactics, one notable example being the case of the Commissioner v. Garcia.

United States property investors can save their money by using a 1031 exchange to defer all of their capital gains tax on the sale of investment property. A 1031 tax exchange is similar to an interest free loan from Uncle Sam!