US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 14, April 5, 2011: Holding that that the Tax Court judge has the same discretion as in a jury trial whether to receive evidence using standards of reliability and relevance, the Tax Court agreed with the IRS to entirely exclude taxpayer’s appraisal from trial record as “unreasonable, unreliable, and irrelevant [...]
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US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 13, April 4, 2011: On reconsideration, the US Tax Court affirms its previous decision saying that for a preservation easement to be eligible for a tax deduction, the holder of the easement must have an absolute right to a portion of proceeds from a sale after extinguishment of the easement. [...] US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Nos. 10-1333, 10-1334, 10-1336, March 29, 2011: Reverses the US Tax Court and holds that certain transactions between a partnership to market Virginia historic rehabilitation tax credits and its partners amounted to taxable sales for purposes of federal tax law. The following are excerpts from the Miller & Chevalier Tax Appellate [...] 2011 TC Memo 71, March 28, 2011: Upholds IRS disallowance of façade easement tax deduction because the “Preservation and Conservation Easement Agreement” between the taxpayer and the donee did not satisfy the Internal Revenue Code requirement for a contemporaneous written acknowledgment of the gift from the donee — it did not state whether the donee provided [...] United States Bankruptcy Court, E. D. NY, No: 8-10-70231-478, May 20, 2010: Held a Debtor in a c. 11 bankruptcy proceeding may not sell its real property free and clear of a Development Rights restriction for agricultural preservation held by a county and town. The Debtor’s debtor-in-possession lender sought to have the property sold free and [...] US Dist Ct, W.D. KY, Louisville Div., No. 3:10-CV-539-H, Jan. 12, 2011: Holds a suit to allow demolition of landmark buildings may proceed because owner either (1) properly appealed the denial of its demolition request under County ordinance or (2) was not required to exhaust administrative remedies. Denies the County’s motion to dismiss. “At some point [...] US Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, No. 08-4090, January 11, 2011: Majority holds that the Wilderness Society and other environmental groups (“TWS”) lack “prudential standing” to bring suit under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution challenging a local government’s assertion of rights of way over federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and [...] The US Supreme Court denied certiorari January 10 in the case of Rocky Mountain Christian Church v Boulder County (reported here on May 25, 2010), a case decided by the United States Court Of Appeals Tenth Circuit, No. 09-1188, May 17, 2010, involving claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). [...] Dist. Court, D. Massachusetts, C.A. No. 10-cv-30033-MAP, January 4, 2011: Rejects RLUIPA and constitutional challenges to City Ordinance designating single church parcel as historic district. The Church’s failure to submit any plan for alteration of the building exterior or apply for an exemption from constraints on alteration figured significantly in the decision. The summary judgment finds [...] T.C. Memo. 2010-283; No. 14374-08, December 27, 2010: Tax Court creates its own appraisal of the value of a conservation easement using the before-and-after method; considers evidence of lot sales after the date the easement was donated.
The taxpayer argued that only the comparable sales appraisal method could be used because data on sales of comparables conservation [...] United States District Court, District of Columbia, No. 09-1900, No. 14., 39, September 28, 2010: The City, Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC) and a community coalition (Coalition) lacked standing to ask the court to block Conrail from abandoning rail property and selling it to a developer planning non-rail uses without first obtaining Surface Transportation Board (“the [...] United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, No. 3:09-cv-00075, September 29, 2010: This attempt by a conservation easement holder to defend the easement area from treated sewage discharge under a state-issued NPDES permit failed as the Court held that US EPA’s decision not to object to the permit did not require prior review under the National Historic [...] United States Tax Court, No. 8309-08, September 22, 2010: The TC upheld the IRS’ complete denial of a deduction for a historic façade easement but denied the IRS’ accuracy-related penalty. The taxpayer offered appraisals by two different appraisers but the preparers of only one of the appraisals testified as witnesses. The TC thoroughly discredited the appraisal prepared [...] United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, No. 09-60085, August 10, 2010: Decides several issue about the deductibility and appraisal of a façade easement’s affect on the value of a building owned in common with the building being protected, vacating the Tax Court’s 2008 decision and remanding for further proceedings. Taxpayer Whitehouse (“W”) owned the contiguous [...] United States Tax Court, no. 15171-08, July 14, 2010: Holds (a) a mandatory cash payment by taxpayers to a façade easement grantee was not a “contribution or gift” under Income Tax Regulation 1.170A because taxpayers did not sustain their burden of proving either that the payment was not made as a quid pro or, if they [...] United States District Court, E.D. California. CIV. S-10-394 FCD/KJN, June 8, 2010: The court granted the power company’s motion for transfer of venue of this transmission line case to the Southern District of California from the Eastern District because “there is little, if any, nexus between the claims alleged and the Eastern District” and “very substantial [...] United States Court Of Appeals Tenth Circuit, No. 09-1188, May 17, 2010 United States District Court, D. Oregon, Eugene Division. No. 08-6359-HO, March 23, 2010. Standing to request an injunction alleging violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act was denied, in part, based on mootness. Western Radio (WRS) was denied a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction earlier in this litigation to [...] U.S. Tax Court, 134 T.C. No. 9, April 26, 2010 The Tax Court rejected a deduction for a façade easement that was subordinate to a mortgage, but denied the IRS summary judgment as to whether a companion cash contribution was a conditional gift. Because the superior mortgagee would have a prior claim to condemnation and insurance proceeds, [...] United States District Court, S.D. California. No. 09cv962-WQH-AJB. The court rejected summary judgment and injunctive relief motions by a religious school (OLP) that alleged the City’s refusal to issue permits for “modernization” of the school was a violation by the City of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 3000 (“RLUIPA”), 42 U.S.C. [...] |
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