The IRS has been cracking down on conservation easement transactions for over ten years. Nevertheless, taxpayers have continued to claim charitable contribution deductions attributable to the donation of conservation easements and promoters have continued to assemble investments utilizing conservation easement charitable deductions. The IRS began focusing on syndicated conservation easement transactions when it issued Notice
The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers against scam groups masquerading as charitable organizations, luring people to make donations to groups or causes that don’t actually qualify for a tax deduction. These phony charities, which attempt to attract donations from unsuspecting contributors using a charitable reason and a tax deduction as bait for taxpayers are
In Palmolive Building Investors, LLC v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. No. 18, the Tax Court denied a charitable contribution deduction of a donated façade easement because the easement deed failed to satisfy the perpetuity requirement of section 170.
A contribution of a qualified real property interest is deductible as a qualified
August brought three wins for taxpayers who donated conservation easements that were challenged by the IRS. In all of the cases, terms of the conservation easement deed document carried the day.