Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden on July 21, 2020 released a policy proposal to fund universal childcare and in-home elder care by taxing real estate investors and targeting the taxation of like-kind exchanges.  Real Estate Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer responded by noting the many ways in which like-kind exchanges contribute to economic growth and create greater opportunity for entrepreneurs from under-represented demographic groups.

• "The long-standing like-kind exchange tax law has encouraged investment in affordable housing and other properties, generated state and local tax revenue, and spurred new jobs through labor-intensive property improvement.  Exchanges reduce the need for outside financing, leading to less leverage and debt on U.S. real estate. As a result, exchanges allow cash-strapped minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses to grow their business by temporarily deferring tax on the reinvested proceeds,” DeBoer said.
  

• He added, “Like-kind exchanges are particularly important during economic downturns when access to capital is less certain. In short, like-kind exchanges create a more dynamic real estate marketplace, ensuring properties do not languish, permanently underutilized and under-invested. Congressional review of like-kind exchanges is reasonable and appropriate, and we will support sensible reforms, as The Roundtable has in the past, that preserve and maintain the provision’s broad-based economic benefits." 

A 2015 economic study commissioned by The Real Estate Roundtable and other national real estate organizations on the US commercial real estate market highlights the critical role that 1031 exchanges play in stabilizing rents, safeguarding  property values and strengthening the economy.   (“The Economic Impact of Repealing or Limiting Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges in Real Estate” by Professors David C. Ling and Milena Petrova)