Emissions Credits are Classified as Like Kind Property for 1031 Exchange Purposes

Like kind property as defined for tax-deferred exchange treatment under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code is not always an easy call to make and often involves grays areas until the IRS clears up the issue for us. 

This is the case for Nitrogen Oxide Emissions (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC).  The question was whether they were like kind to each other for 1031 Exchange purposes.

The Internal Revenue Service issued Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 201024036 today, which concludes that the underlying nature and character of the rights conferred by emissions credits for nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) are like-kind to the rights conferred by emissions credits for volatile organic compounds (VOC). 

The Internal Revenue Service concluded in PLR 201024036 that the underlying nature and character of the emission credits were of like-kind property to each other and therefore qualified for tax-deferred exchange treatment under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code.