The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on commercial real estate values, and in some cases resulted in property no longer being able to support the debt with which it is encumbered. The decrease in value of commercial property has forced many owners to restructure their debt.
However, the resulting forgiveness of a portion of the debt does not automatically result in federal taxable income. Favorable rules, which were put into place for taxable years after 1992, could allow the cancellation of debt income to be deferred for federal income tax purposes even if the taxpayer is not in bankruptcy or insolvent—as is normally the case.
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich: Pexels
