Worksheets · Identification
45-Day Identification Planner
A printable 1031 identification letter: day 45 and day 180 from your closing, a chooser for the three identification rules, the DST line, signature and delivery.
What this worksheet does
The identification period is 45 calendar days from the day after your relinquished property transfers, and what you deliver before midnight on day 45 fixes what you may buy. This planner is the letter itself: the dates, the rule you are identifying under, the properties, and the signature and delivery lines the regulation requires.
Enter the closing date and the planner shows day 45 and day 180; the deadline calculator adds the tax-return due date and the extension question, which can shorten the 180. How to describe each property so the list is unambiguous is on how to identify replacement property.
Part A: your dates
| Day 1 | Wednesday, March 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Identification deadline, midnight on day 45 | Friday, April 24, 2026 |
| Exchange deadline, midnight on day 180 | Sunday, September 6, 2026 |
Day 180 falls on a Sunday; it does not move. Check the return-due-date trap in the deadline calculator before you rely on day 180.
Part B: the rule you are identifying under (tick one)
| Three-property rule | Up to three properties, whatever their value. Most lists use it. A DST interest takes one of the three lines. | |
|---|---|---|
| 200 percent rule | Any number of properties, as long as their total fair market value at the end of day 45 is no more than twice the value of what you sold.Value of the relinquished property $ __________ times 2 = ceiling $ __________ | |
| 95 percent rule | More than three properties and more than 200 percent. Valid only if you actually acquire 95 percent of the total value identified by day 180. Rarely chosen on purpose. |
Part C: the identification list
One row per property. Describe real estate by street address, legal description or a distinguishable name. Row 3 is the DST line every list should carry: a trust that is still open on day 180 can close in days if a whole-property deal falls through.
| # | Property: street address, legal description or distinguishable name | Interest identified (whole property, undivided share, percentage of a trust) | Estimated value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | The DST line: beneficial interest in a Delaware statutory trust holding the property at | approximately percent of the trust, about $ of equity | |
| 4 | |||
| Total value identified (needed for the 200 percent and 95 percent rules only) | |||
Part D: signature and delivery
To revoke before day 45: a signed writing to the same person, sent before midnight, then a new list. After day 45 nothing on this page can change.
Worked example (hypothetical)
An imaginary sale with round figures and placeholder addresses. Run your own dates and list with your intermediary and CPA.
| Dates | Closing Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Day 45 is Friday, April 24, 2026. Day 180 is Sunday, September 6, 2026; because the deadline does not move and title offices are closed, the replacement must close by Friday, September 4. The return for 2026 is due April 15, 2027, later than day 180, so no trap. |
|---|---|
| Rule | Three-property rule. The seller sold a rental for $1,000,000; under this rule the value of the list does not matter. |
| List | 1. The retail building at [street address, city, state], whole property, about $900,000. 2. An undivided 50 percent interest in the building at [street address, city, state], about $400,000. 3. A beneficial interest of approximately 8 percent in [name of trust] DST, holding the apartment property at [street address, city, state], about $450,000 of equity. |
| Delivery | Signed April 20, 2026, emailed to the intermediary the same afternoon, acknowledgement returned within the hour and filed with the exchange agreement. |
| What happened | The retail contract failed on day 100 over an inspection. The trust on line 3 was still open and closed on day 118 with the full $1,000,000 of exchange funds; the list never needed to change because the trust line was there from the start. |
How the numbers are calculated
Day one is the day after the transfer, and both periods end at midnight on the 45th and the 180th day. The planner adds 45 and 180 calendar days to the closing date, which is how Reg. section 1.1031(k)-1(b)(2) counts them; weekends and holidays move nothing. A tax-return due date earlier than day 180 shortens the exchange period, which the planner leaves to the deadline calculator.
The identification is governed by paragraph (c) of the same regulation. It must be a written document signed by you and delivered before the period ends to the person obligated to transfer the replacement property or to another party to the exchange who is not you and not a disqualified person; the intermediary is the usual recipient. The property must be unambiguously described: a legal description, a street address or a distinguishable name. A DST interest is identified by naming the trust and the real estate it holds and stating the interest, because Rev. Rul. 2004-86 treats the beneficial interest as an undivided interest in that real estate.
The chooser is paragraph (c)(4). You may identify up to three properties of any value, or any number whose total fair market value at the end of day 45 is no more than 200 percent of the value of what you sold. Exceed both and the identification is void, unless you actually receive 95 percent of the total value identified by the end of the exchange period. Property received inside the 45 days counts as identified. A revocation under paragraph (c)(6) must be a signed writing to the same person before the period ends; after midnight on day 45 the list cannot change.
Form 8824 asks for the date you identified the replacement property on line 5 and the date you received it on line 6, so keep the signed letter and the acknowledgement with the return. If a trust is on the list and a whole-property deal fails, the trust can usually close in days: that is the point of the DST line.
Questions about this worksheet
Does each DST on the list count as one property?
A trust that holds one property is one property. A trust that holds several buildings may count as several under the three-property rule, which is why many advisors switch to the 200 percent rule when a portfolio trust is on the list. The arithmetic is on identifying multiple DSTs under the 200 percent rule.
Can the list be sent by email?
The regulation allows the document to be hand delivered, mailed, telecopied or otherwise sent, and most exchange agreements name email as an accepted method. Send it so that the time of delivery can be proved; see identification notice by email or text.
What if the DST on my list closes to new investors before I need it?
Then the line is spent, which is why some lists carry two trusts or use the 200 percent rule to add one. How a trust works as the fallback on a list is on the DST backup strategy.
Can I deliver the list to my own real estate agent or attorney?
Not if they are a disqualified person, which includes anyone who acted as your agent in the two years before the sale. The intermediary is the safe recipient; see who receives the identification notice.
Does the percentage of the trust have to be exact?
The interest you receive must be substantially the same as the one identified, so write the percentage or dollar amount as approximate and keep what you buy close to it. Ask your CPA how much variance the examples in the regulation allow; the wording that works is on identifying a DST interest on the list.
Can I change the list after day 45?
No. Before midnight on day 45 you can revoke in writing and send a new list; after that the list is fixed and anything you buy must be on it. See changing the identification after day 45.
Sources
Figures checked on October 8, 2026. Rates and thresholds change each year; this page is general information, not tax or legal advice.
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