New Biden Tax Proposal Would Threaten 568K Jobs, Stifle Real Estate Market

One of the first things President 👤Joe Biden did after taking office was to kill thousands of jobs by canceling the Keystone XL pipeline. Nearly five months later, he has a new proposal that could be even more destructive.

According to The New York Times, Biden wants to “rein in” Section 1031 of the tax code, which governs “like-kind exchange” transactions. The provision allows real estate investors to roll over profits from the sale of one property to the purchase of another without paying taxes on the gains.

The policy was first enacted in 1921 following World War I, and it has encouraged investment in the real estate market ever since. Yet in order to fund his outrageous spending proposals, Biden now wishes to challenge the 100-year-old policy.

Specifically, the Biden administration has proposed limiting the yearly deferral allowed in like-kind exchanges to $500,000 for single filers and $1 million for married couples. This would all but kill like-kind exchanges, real estate investors told The Times.

“The effort would generate $19.5 billion in tax revenue over 10 years, according to the administration’s estimates, and help pay for its $1.8 trillion proposal to help American families attain a middle-class lifestyle,” The Times reported.

Of course, the contention that Biden’s so-called “American Families Plan” would actually help families attain middle-class status is dubious at best. What’s more, like-kind exchanges are already generating plenty of money for the economy on their own.

According to a May study by accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young