Topic
Conservation Easements
399 published works
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
Tax Court Dismisses Claims of Administrative Irregularity in Conservation Easement Penalty Assessment
We have previously posted about the IRS foot fault regarding the requirement to obtain written supervisor approval before proposing valuation related penalties on conservation easement participants. I haven't been able…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
Conservation Easements Are a State Tax Issue Too
The California Franchise Tax Board has issued a notice that provides taxpayers with the opportunity to resolve potentially problematic syndicated conservation easement tax issues with reduced penalties. FTB Notice 2023-2…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
Metadata, Conservation Easements and The Big Mess at Chief Counsel’s Office
Its not exactly the Tea Party scandal, but I imagine there is some serious consternation going on over at Chief Counsel's office. It seems some young gun revenue agents were…
Agricultural Law Weekly Review
Agricultural Law Weekly Review—June 5, 2023
Farmland Preservation: Appraiser Pleads Guilty to Agricultural Conservation Easement Fraud On May 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a North Carolina land appraiser, Walter “Terry” Douglas…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
Feds Working to Stem the Tide, But States Work to Expand Conservation Easements
At the federal level, its cops and robbers chasing stolen conservation easement deductions. But according to this Bloomberg article, states are moving full steam ahead with conservation easement subsidies. One…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
The Conservation Easement Should Be Replaced with Direct Spending
See, this is why we can't ever have anything good. All we really need to know is that a donor purchased 248 acres for $730,000, about $3000 an acre. Merely…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
New Guidance on Conservation Easements — and a Quick Deadline for Old Easements
IRS Notice 2023-30 implements a guidance requirement imposed by the Appropriations Act signed into law late last year. The Notice provides safe harbor clauses to address unforeseen extinguishment and boundary…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
Congress and DOJ Shut Down Ecovest Conservation Easement Syndicate and Others Like it
Way down in the bowels of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, which President Biden signed into law on December 29, 2022 - in Section 5, Division T, Title VI,…
Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
Patriotic Scoundrels and Conservation Easements
The Tory abolitionist Samuel Johnson, long before it was cool to be woke, once yelled that slavery was an "immoral state." He loathed slavery and even proposed a toast in…
Taft Tax Insights
Did you know a charity that receives a donation of a conservation easement could be liable for prohibited tax shelter penalties under recently proposed regulations?
By James Duffy
Taxpayers may take a charitable income tax deduction when they place a conservation easement on their property for the benefit of a charity. The amount of the deduction is equal…