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Tax-Deductible Conservation Easements And The Essential Perpetuity Requirements, Nancy Mclaughlin
Tax-Deductible Conservation Easements And The Essential Perpetuity Requirements, Nancy Mclaughlin
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Property owners who make charitable gifts of perpetual conservation easements are eligible to claim federal charitable income tax deductions. Through this tax-incentive program the public is investing billions of dollars in easements encumbering millions of acres nationwide. In response to reports of abuse in the early 2000s, the Internal Revenue Service (Service) began auditing and litigating questionable easement donation transactions, and the resulting case law reveals significant failures to comply with the deduction’s requirements. Recently, the Service has come under fire for enforcing the deduction’s “perpetuity” requirements, which are intended to ensure that the easements will protect the subject properties’ …
2016 Trying Times: Important Lessons To Be Learned From Recent Federal Tax Cases, Nancy Mclaughlin
2016 Trying Times: Important Lessons To Be Learned From Recent Federal Tax Cases, Nancy Mclaughlin
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Since 2005, the courts have collectively issued more than 80 opinions involving challenges to deductions claimed under IRC § 170(h) with regard to conservation and facade easement donations. This outline provides a brief history of developments in the deduction context, discusses the practical implications of the recent court decisions, and offers advice on how to file a tax return package to minimize the risk of audit. It also briefly notes various other important issues, such as the IRS's focus on valuation and syndicated deals, quid pro quo, and reserved development rights.
An Introduction To Conservation Easements In The United States: A Simple Concept And A Complicated Mosaic Of Law, Nancy Mclaughlin, Federico Cheever
An Introduction To Conservation Easements In The United States: A Simple Concept And A Complicated Mosaic Of Law, Nancy Mclaughlin, Federico Cheever
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
The idea of a conservation easement – restrictions on the development and use of land designed to protect the land’s conservation or historic values – can be relatively easily understood. More significant and more challenging is the complex body of state and federal laws that shapes the creation, funding, tax treatment, enforcement, modification, and termination of conservation easements.
The explosion in the number of conservation easements over the past four decades has made them one of the most popular land protection mechanisms in the United States. The National Conservation Easement Database estimates that the total number of acres encumbered by …