Biggs v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
632 F.2d 1171 (1980)
Franklin Biggs (plaintiff) owned property in Maryland and arranged to trade it for a property in Virginia, using an intermediary, Shore Title Company, to hold and transfer title. Biggs and the buyer of his Maryland property, Powell, agreed that Powell would buy the Virginia property from Shore and pass it to Biggs, but Powell never actually took title to the Virginia property himself; title passed directly from Shore to Biggs. Biggs reported the swap as a tax-free like-kind exchange. The IRS (defendant) disagreed and issued a deficiency notice, but the tax court sided with Biggs. The IRS appealed.
Whether a pair of real estate sales may qualify as a like-kind exchange under federal tax law even though the buyer of the relinquished property never acquired title to the replacement property.