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 [...]
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United States Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2012-72, March 19, 2012: Where taxpayer presented credible evidence that reserved rights were not inconsistent with conservation purposes and IRS presented none to contrary, taxpayer satisfies burden of proof despite sparse record; state law determines whether unrecorded baseline documents may be incorporated by reference in conservation easement; appraisal revised by [...] 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 District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania, No. 3:11cv514, March 1, 2012: Finding that conservation easement’s purposes and its prohibition on industrial or commercial uses of any kind are made ambiguous by uses allowed by the easement, and therefore the easement does not necessarily prohibit natural gas drilling, denies motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff Stockport Mountain Corporation LLC (Stockport) [...] Maryland Court of Special Appeals, No. 0228, February 14, 2012: Revised decision holds the purchased non-perpetual agricultural preservation easement at issue does not create charitable trust in Maryland, but abutter has rebuttable presumption that it has standing to bring mandamus action regarding enforcement of the easement by a state entity. The decision issued February 14, 2012, revises [...] 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 Court’s opinion in this case was revised on February 14, 2012. A revised Digest post discussing the decision is [...] 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. [...] Court of Appeals of Colorado, Division VII, No. 10CA1006, August 18, 2011: Affirms district court order requiring state to disclose records about an investigation of conservation easements appraisals used to obtain Colorado tax credits. The Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Board of Real Estate Appraisers (collectively the Board), in connection with a statewide investigation of [...] NY Supreme Court, Westchester County, Index no. 23534/10, July 13, 2011: Summary judgment order by trial court that conservation easement from Town to land trust prohibits the creation of fenced enclosures or “habitat” for the keeping of wolves. The conservation easement was granted by the Town as a condition to receiving a grant from Westchester Land Trust [...] Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2057 C.D. 2010 July 12, 2011: Restriction to “recreational use” in Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (Declaration) does not allow structure or use for basketball court. Unreported opinion. Land acquired by a Township in part with county funds was subject to the Declaration stating the land would be used only “for wildlife [...] U.S. District Court, W.D. Virginia, Charlottesville Division, No. 3:09-CV-00079, June 30, 2011: Memorandum opinion finds the land trust holder of a conservation easement has standing to sue under the federal Clean Water Act because the alleged injury to the property rights of the land trust “provide an irrefutable basis for standing,” and at the pleading stage [...] 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, 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 [...] |
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