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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 [...] 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 [...] 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 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 [...] 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 [...] U.S. Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2011-238, October 3, 2011: Denies a contribution deduction for a facade easement based on appraisal defects. Holds: appraisal was not qualified because it did not properly apply the comparable sales method to the “after” value; appraisal adequately stated the method and specific basis for the valuation even if wrong; appraisal summary [...] 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 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. 2011-84, 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 [...] 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 Tax Court, 135 T.C. No. 24, Nov. 4, 2010: Affirms, based on a quid pro quo benefit that exceeded the donation, the IRS denial of a charitable deduction by Petitioner Rolfs for his gift to the local fire department of a house (but not the land on which it was located) for the express [...] October 15, 2010: A Proposed Rule by the National Park Service would amend its procedures for obtaining historic preservation certifications for rehabilitation tax credits. The comment period ends 12/14/2010. From the Federal Register notice: “The proposed rule accomplishes four objectives. First, it removes outdated references to the Internal Revenue Code. Second, the proposed rule deletes references to [...] 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 [...] |
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