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U.S. Tax Court, T.C. Memo, 2012-126, May 1, 2012: Tax Court finds taxpayers’ appraisals not credible to rebut IRS appraisal, resulting in zero value for tax deduction purposes to historic preservation easement to NAT. Deductions were allowed for “required” cash contributions and accuracy-related penalties were disallowed. The unit owners of a condominium building (Cobblestone) in a New [...] US Tax Court, 138 T.C. No. 16, April 3, 2012: The so-remote-as-to-be-negligible standard of Treasury Regulations cannot be used to excuse the failure to comply with a particular requirement of Treasury Regulations for a qualified conservation contribution. In this case, the taxpayer failed to obtain a subordination of a mortgage to a qualified conservation contribution at [...] Court of Appeals of Colorado, Division A, No. 11CA2634, March 15, 2012: Resolution of litigation regarding Colorado conservation easement tax credits between Dept. of Revenue and the original donor of the easement as tax matters representative is binding on transferees of the CE credits; transferees are not necessary parties to such disputes and need not be [...] US Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2012-8, Jan. 10, 2012: A charitable organization’s contribution acknowledgment letter that omitted items of value the taxpayer received in consideration was not a valid acknowledgment letter, the taxpayer did not act reasonably in relying on the letter, and therefore the taxpayer could not take a deduction for the contribution. A taxpayer-donor claiming [...] US Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, No. 11-2078, February 8, 2012: Upholds the Tax Court decision that value of house donated to fire department on condition it be destroyed did not exceed the fair market value of the benefit the taxpayer received in return by house’s destruction. The opinion upholds the decision of the Tax Court in [...] US Tax Court, 2012 TC Memo 35, February 6, 2012: Determines fair market value of conservation easement by analyzing highest and best use and comparable sales, rejecting taxpayers’ claim that highest and best use was other than the properties’ present use. At issue was the value of property before donation of conservation easements donated as qualified conservation [...] Colo. Court of Appeals, Div. A, No. 11CA2634, February 2, 2012: Grants request for interlocutory appeal of four issues of law of first impression in Colorado regarding tax treatment of purchase of conservation easement tax credits. A later opinion will address the merits. In the case at trial, the plaintiffs collectively donated fourteen conservation easements over two [...] US Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2012-1, January 3, 2012: Colorado conservation easement extinguishable by mutual consent of the parties does not guarantee protection in perpetuity under state law as required by Internal Revenue Code. Petitioners (Carpenter) sought a federal qualified conservation contribution tax deduction for a conservation easement granted to a charitable nonprofit that the IRS agreed [...] The Internal Revenue Service publishes a “Conservation Easement Audit Techniques Guide” online at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=249135,00.html#_Toc223. The publication was last revised September 30, 2011, and last reviewed by the IRS November 22, 2011. The Guide begins with a table of contents in hypertext linked to the chapters of the Guide, reproduced below. In addition to summaries of the many requirements of [...] Dist. Court, D. Idaho, CIV. 1:10-186 WBS, August 29, 2011: Orders production of landowner’s attorneys’ documents related to appraisal of conservation easement value, in suit by landowner against US. The Peskys donated a conservation easement to The Nature Conservancy in 2002. The IRS refused their claim for a qualified conservation contribution tax deduction and assessed a deficiency. [...] Washington, DC, July 13, 2011: The US District Court for District Of Columbia has enjoined Trust for Architectural Easements from various activities regarding historic preservation easements in a civil suit brought by the Justice Department on behalf of the IRS. A DOJ press release summarizes the injunction as follows: “The injunction order bars the defendants from promoting the [...] US Tax Court, 2011 TC Memo 153, June 29, 2011: Tax deduction for conservation easement donated to county denied because owner-county conditional settlement agreement calling for donation was not an “acknowledgment” of the donated property as required by Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(8). The taxpayer settled a dispute with the county government by entering into a settlement [...] US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, No. 10-1063, June 21, 2011: upheld the US Tax Court 2009 ruling in Simmons v. Commissioner, that a historic preservation façade easement was granted in perpetuity even if it allowed the Grantee to consent to façade changes and did not spell out what would happen to the easement [...] US Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2011-109, May 23, 2011: Follows the holding in Tempel v. Commissioner (US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 15, April 5, 2011), that Colorado State conservation easement tax credits are capital assets that qualify for capital gain treatment and the holding period for the assets sold begins at the time that the [...] US Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2011-84, April 12, 2011: Denies preservation easement tax deduction because local law already protects property and because mortgage subordination reserves insurance and condemnation proceeds priority to lender. The taxpayer/petitioner donated a façade easement and “unused development rights” (UDRs) to Trust for Architectural Easements (formerly known as National Architectural Trust) on a townhouse [...] US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 15, April 5, 2011: Holds transferable Colorado conservation easement tax credits are a capital asset, but the transaction costs to establish the easement are not basis of the asset, and asset holding period began only when the easement donation was complete and the credits were granted by the state. The Petitioner, [...] 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 [...] 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 [...] |
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