On August 23, 2018, the IRS released new proposed tax regulations that penalize Virginia conservation easement donors for receiving the land preservation tax credit. This new rule significantly reduces the tax benefits that Virginia landowners will receive for donating a conservation easement. Continue reading Proposed SALT Regulation Reduces Conservation Easement Tax Deductions
Author: Derrick P. Fellows
Derrick P. Fellows is an attorney with Hawthorne & Hawthorne, P.C. in Victoria, Virginia. Follow him on Twitter at @dpfellows.
2016 Form 990 Due This Monday for Land Trusts Filing on Calendar Year
Most of my posts on this blog relate to issues that are primarily of concern to landowners seeking to conserve their land. However, I also represent a couple of land trusts (along with several other nonprofits having nothing to do with land conservation), and I know that many of my loyal readers are in the land trust community. Land trusts must qualify as 501(c)(3) organizations in order to receive donations of conservation easements. In order to maintain its 501(c)(3) status, a land trust must file certain annual paperwork with the IRS. And it is now that time of year. So, as a reminder to those of you in the land trust community:
Your annual Form 990 is due to the IRS this Monday, May 15. This assumes that your land trust is a calendar-year filer for tax purposes. If your land trust has a fiscal year that does not end in December, you will have a different due date. If you are not sure whether your land trust has filed its 2016 Form 990 yet, you can check its filing status using the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Select Check tool.
For more information, you might wish to read the article that Forbes published yesterday on the Form 990 filing requirements.
IRS Amends Notice 2017-10 Relating to Syndicated Partnerships
The IRS has now officially modified Notice 2017-10. Notice 2017-10, which was released on December 23, 2016, had the primary purpose of designating certain syndicated conservation easement transactions as being “listed transactions.” This designation retroactively imposed additional reporting requirements on landowners and others who participated in these syndicated conservation easement transactions.
Late yesterday afternoon, however, the IRS released Notice 2017-29. Notice 2017-29 amended Notice 2017-10 in two important ways. Continue reading IRS Amends Notice 2017-10 Relating to Syndicated Partnerships
Clower: IRS Investigation Into Abusive Appraisals May Proceed
Earlier today, December 22, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the IRS may proceed in its investigation into allegedly overvalued conservation easement appraisals prepared by a Georgia appraiser. Specifically, the appraiser will be required to provide the IRS with his client lists and other information from his files. Continue reading Clower: IRS Investigation Into Abusive Appraisals May Proceed
Seek and Ye Shall Find: An Update on the Virginia Treasures Initiative
I write today to provide an update on the Virginia Treasures initiative: On Thursday, December 15, 2016, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced in a press release that his goal of preserving 1,000 “Virginia Treasures” had been reached a full year ahead of schedule. This announcement has received limited press so far—I’ve only seen stories from WTKR (Channel 3 in Norfolk) and the Augusta Free Press, and these stories mostly just regurgitate the press release. Let’s take a closer look. Continue reading Seek and Ye Shall Find: An Update on the Virginia Treasures Initiative