The tax system for real estate in the United States is broken down into three parts including acquisition, ownership, and disposal.
1.Parts related to acquisition
The basic idea regarding real estate acquisition tax in the United States does not stray far off from the taxation on general goods. The tax base uses the real transaction price as the standard and the latest transaction time as the standard and is put through relative evaluation regarding depreciation or the amount of appreciation, after which the tax is imposed based on the actual price. Various relationships of rights, for example debt and etc. if one only takes in financial factors into consideration, has a direct effect on the real estate price and ultimately also effects the taxation. Generally, such acquisition price becomes the actual payment amount during real estate acquisition but in cases in which real state is acquired through Like Kind Exchange method, the new real estate standard price is as follows; if there was additional receipt of separate cash in addition to the book value of the real estate already in possession, it is the amount with the deduction of the same, and if cash or other values were paid in addition, it is the amount with the addition of the same. Furthermore, during the purchase of real estate, if the purchase was completed on the condition of assumption of existing debt on the acquired real estate, the acquisition cost is the sum of cash price actually paid and assumed debt.

2.Parts related to ownership of real estate
Real estate tax is a part of local tax and in the United States, only the property tax is imposed by local government. Fair market value of land and building are taken as standard for assessment in property tax. 35 states all impose the equal rate of tax on property and Washington D.C. in addition to 16 states uses the types of property in differentiating the taxation, in other words, differential graded taxation is carried out according to the category such as residential, commercial, rental and more possession tax is required for payment when the price.

3. Parts related to disposal of real estate
As is the case with acquisition of real estate, in order to precede with disposition of property necessary for taxation, simply the appreciation or depreciation of property market price is not enough. And in disposal, exchange, as well as sell of property, knowing the initial price is also important. The prime cost of disposed property are calculated according to the acquisition process of the property and the capital expenditure and depreciation are figured into the amount and the adjusted amount is considered the book value.
Tax-exempt
1) Exchange of like kind property
In accordance with Internal Revenue Code regulations, when property possessed for manufacturing use or investment purpose in commercial or business settings are exchanged with like kind property only and possess the same for the purposes of manufacturing use or investment purpose in commercial or business settings, there is no recognized gain or loss in such property exchange. Like kind property uses the characteristic or feature of the property as the criteria and thus it does not consider the grade or quality as part of the criteria. Therefore, the exchange cannot occur between different kinds of property. The transaction must be a direct exchange. Receiving cash from selling property and using the cash to purchase like kind property does not apply per this regulation. However, the two transactions are in an interdependent relationship and are accepted as direct exchange.

2)Tax exemption on capital gains
Selling a residence can incur gain or loss. In such situations, the tax law does not approve exemption on incurred loss (as it is personal property), and requires taxation on incurred gain.

*Taxation postponement on property disposal gains
In accordance with the Taxpayer Relief Act from 1997, when one sells their general residence, and purchases a new residence within a certain period of time and the price of that new residence is equivalent to the previous residences adjusted sales price or higher than the same, the payment of tax regarding the Capital Gain can be postponed. In order to receive tax-exemption benefit, one must first acquire another residence (including newly-built building) within a total of 4 years including past 2 years from the date of sale and 2 years after the same. In case where one sells their principal residence and purchases another residence, the incurred capital gain is tax-exempt. If a person who sells a residence signs a contract to live in an apartment near their job by paying monthly rent, and takes the remaining amount to purchase a vacation home on the beach, this will not be exempt from taxation as it is not an investment on principal residence. The basic cost of new residence is the total of the capital gains for which the residence tax has been postponed subtracted from the acquisition amount. And the period of possession of this residence needs to add the period of possession of the previous residence into the total amount.