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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.
Conservation Easements And The Valuation Conundrum, Nancy Mclaughlin
Conservation Easements And The Valuation Conundrum, Nancy Mclaughlin
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
For more than fifty years, taxpayers have been able to claim a federal charitable income tax deduction under Internal Revenue Code § 170(h) for the donation of a conservation easement or a façade easement. For just as long, the deduction has been subject to abuse, including valuation abuse. Dismayed by the expenditure of significant judicial and administrative resources to combat abuse in the easement donation context, the Treasury Department recently proposed reforms, including reforms to address valuation abuse. The reforms were proposed in somewhat of an analytical vacuum, however, because there has been no comprehensive analysis of the easement valuation …