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The Conservation Easement Tax Expenditure: In Search Of Conservation Value, Roger Colinvaux
The Conservation Easement Tax Expenditure: In Search Of Conservation Value, Roger Colinvaux
Scholarly Articles
Federal tax law has long provided a tax benefit for charitable contributions of easements for conservation purposes. A fundamental problem with this conservation easement tax expenditure is that the measure for the tax benefit – lost economic development value – is erroneous. Use of such an erroneous measure obscures the conservation benefits of the program by focusing attention and resources on divining a largely extraneous and unhelpful number. Further, to a considerable extent, the easement program is reflexively justified and understood based on this false measure, as if it represented the conservation value of the program. The Article argues that, …
The Political Speech Of Charities In The Face Of Citizens United: A Defense Of Prohibition, Roger Colinvaux
The Political Speech Of Charities In The Face Of Citizens United: A Defense Of Prohibition, Roger Colinvaux
Scholarly Articles
The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission makes a Supreme Court challenge to the tax law rule that prohibits charities from involvement in political activities more likely, and a reexamination of the political speech of charities necessary. Part I of the Article surveys the history of the political activities prohibition in order to emphasize that it was not a reactionary policy but quite considered, and that there are strong State interests supporting it, including protection of the definition of charity from further dilution. Part II of the Article analyzes Citizens United in detail and argues that …