On July 31, 2015, President Obama signed into law P.L. 114-41, the “Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015.” The legislation was really dealing with the Highway Trust Fund and related measures, but included a number of important tax provisions, such as revised due dates for Form 1065 Partnership and Form 1120 C Corporation returns. Also included are revised extended due dates for many returns.

Thanks to IRC Section 1031, a properly structured 1031 exchange allows an investor to sell a property, to reinvest the proceeds in a new property and to defer all capital gain taxes. IRC Section 1031 (a)(1) states:

“No gain or loss shall be recognized on the exchange of property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment, if such property is exchanged solely for property of like-kind which is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment.”

These days, charities and fundraisers (groups that solicit funds on behalf of organizations) use the phone, face- to-face contact, email, the internet (including social networking sites), and mobile devices to solicit and obtain donations. Naturally, scammers use these same methods to take advantage of your goodwill. Regardless of how they reach you, avoid any charity or fundraiser where any of the following apply: