From Nobel Prizes to Wooden Arrows—A Look at Niche Tax Exemptions

The tax code is full of odd, and oddly specific, ways to lower an individual’s tax bill.

The 2017 tax overhaul killed off some of those exemptions, like a provision that allowed tax-free like-kind exchanges of personal property. Like-kind property could even include cows—but with a caveat.

“For the purposes of this provision, cattle of opposite sexes are not like property,” said Lawrence Zelenak, a professor at Duke University School of Law.

Unfortunately for cattle traders, even cow-for-cow trades are no longer exempt. “Now any trade of cattle is taxable, because any trade of real property is taxable,” Zelenak ...