Real estate and the IRS / Southwest Florida
The IRS has a claim on your property. That does not mean the deal is dead.
Selling with a federal tax lien. Refinancing around one. A rental audit, a foreclosure that produced a 1099-C, or a 1031 exchange that went sideways. These are paperwork problems with deadlines, and they have known procedures.
Sheet A-1 / Closing with a federal tax lien
- Find the lien earlyTitle search turns up the Notice of Federal Tax Lien. Get the payoff and the facts.
- Pick the IRC 6325 pathPay in full, discharge the property, or subordinate for a refinance.
- File Form 14135 or 14134Appraisal, title report, contract, and draft closing statement attached.
- Close on the IRS termsThe certificate issues, the title company pays as approved, the deal records.
Guides by topic
Thirty working guides for property owners
Each guide cites the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury Regulations, the Internal Revenue Manual, and the IRS forms you will actually file. Start with the section that matches the problem on your desk.
Liens and Closings
Selling, refinancing, buying, and foreclosing when a federal tax lien sits on the title.
- Selling a Home With a Federal Tax Lien: How the Closing Actually Works
- Discharge Under IRC 6325(b)(2)(A): Paying the IRS Its Share of the Sale Proceeds
- Discharge Under IRC 6325(b)(2)(B): When the IRS Interest Has No Value
- Discharge Under IRC 6325(b)(1): Using Your Other Property to Free One Parcel
- Form 14135 Step by Step: Applying for a Certificate of Discharge Without Delaying Your Closing
- Refinancing With an IRS Lien: Subordination Under IRC 6325(d) and Form 14134
- Short Sales When the IRS Has a Lien: Two Approvals, One Deadline
- Escrowing Disputed Sale Proceeds Under IRC 6325(b)(3): Close Now, Fight Later
- Buying From a Seller With IRS Problems: Purchaser Protections, Title Searches, and Closing Conditions
- Florida Foreclosure With an IRS Junior Lien: Joinder, IRC 7425, and the 120-Day Redemption Right
- IRS Levies on Rent Paid by Tenants: What the Levy Reaches and How Landlords Respond
Foreclosure and Debt Cancellation
What losing a property or settling a mortgage does to your tax return.
- Foreclosure Tax Consequences: Why Recourse vs Nonrecourse Debt Changes Everything
- Form 1099-A and Form 1099-C After Losing a Property: Reading Them, Fixing Them, Reporting Them
- The Mortgage Forgiveness Exclusion After 2025: Who Still Qualifies and What to Use Instead
- The Insolvency Exclusion and Form 982 After a Real Estate Loss
- Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure: What Handing Back the Keys Does to Your Taxes
- The Qualified Real Property Business Indebtedness Exclusion: Canceled Debt Relief for Property Investors
Rental Property Audits
Schedule E exams, passive loss limits, repairs, depreciation, and recapture.
- Rental Property Audits: What the IRS Asks For on Schedule E and How to Answer
- Short-Term Rental Audits: The Seven-Day Rule, Material Participation, and What Examiners Test
- Real Estate Professional Status Audits: Surviving the 750-Hour and More-Than-Half Tests
- The $25,000 Rental Loss Allowance Under Audit: Active Participation, Phase-Outs, and Form 8582
- Repairs vs Improvements: How the IRS Decides, and the Safe Harbors That End the Argument
- Selling a Rental Property: Depreciation Recapture, Unrecaptured Section 1250 Gain, and the Allowed or Allowable Trap
- Missed Depreciation on a Rental: How Form 3115 Recovers It Without Amending Years of Returns
1031 Exchanges
Deadlines, boot, related parties, intent, and intermediary failures.
- Failed 1031 Exchange: The 45-Day and 180-Day Deadlines, and What Happens When You Miss Them
- Related-Party 1031 Exchanges: The Two-Year Rule, Its Exceptions, and the Transactions the IRS Unwinds
- Boot in a 1031 Exchange: How Cash and Mortgage Relief Turn a Tax-Free Exchange Into a Taxable One
- 1031 Exchange Audits Over "Held for Investment": Flips, Vacation Homes, and Drop and Swap
- When a Qualified Intermediary Fails: Protecting a 1031 Exchange and Reporting the Loss
Home Sales
The Section 121 exclusion and the disputes it creates.
Other IRS problems
Collection, appeals, and payment options
When the property question is really a tax debt question, these pages cover the collection side.
Sarasota Rental Property Owners: Common IRS Problems and How to Fix Them
Read articleCollection Due Process Hearings in Florida: Your Right to Stop the IRS
Read articlePartial Payment Installment Agreements in Florida: Pay Less Than You Owe
Read articleThe IRS 10-Year Collection Rule: How Florida Taxpayers Can Wait Out the Clock
Read articleIRS Appeals in Florida: How to Challenge an IRS Decision You Disagree With
Read articleIRS Hardship Status in Florida: Proving You Cannot Pay Your Tax Debt
Read articleClosing date on the calendar and a lien on the title?
The IRS asks for discharge applications well ahead of closing. The earlier the paperwork starts, the more options you keep. Learn more about the firm at getirshelp.com.