Original Your Tax Matters Partner material by Peter J. Reilly

The Senate Finance Committee report on syndicated conservation easement transactions released on August 25, 2020, is a dramatic development.  I have been covering conservation easement tax deductions for nearly a decade and think that a summary of that coverage might be timely.  Articles are in reverse chronological order with brief explanations where the title is not self-explanatory.

August 15, 2020 – Conservation Easements -Is IRS Burning The Forest To Save It?

August 10, 2020 – When In Rome – Conservation Easement Scandal Enters Congressional Race

July 26, 2020 – Marching Through Georgia – Class Action Lawsuits Against Conservation Syndicators

July 11, 2020 – IRS Victory In Easement Case Prompts An Offer To Not Be Refused

June 2, 2020 – 11th Circuit Blesses Conservation Merit Of Golf Course

May 20, 2020 – Syndicated Conservation Easements- An Industry Based On Nonsense

March 11, 2020 – Conservation Easement Reform – 250% Is Too Much

February 21, 2020 – War On Easement Deductions- $30 Million Denied In Three Cases

February 17, 2020 – Wrapping The Green Flag Around Tax Shenanigans

February 7, 2020 – Valuation Abuse In Conservation Easements – Rare Or Pervasive?

January 12, 2020 – IRS Grinch Ruining Christmas For Syndicated Conservation Easements

December 15, 2019 – Tax Planning For The High Salary Pauper

November 28, 2019 – Major Crackdown On Conservation Easements Or IRS Bluff?

November 24, 2019 – Syndicated Conservation Easements – Mining Concepts For Tax Dollars

October 13, 2019 – GAO Reports On Charity Tax Abuse

March 28, 2019 – Grassley Wyden Take On Sketchy Conservation Tax Shelters

February 4, 2019 – EcoVest Wraps The Green Flag Around Tax Shelter

January 23, 2019 – Conservation Syndicator EcoVest Responds To Injunction Threat

January 21, 2019 – What Should Investors In Conservation Syndications Do When DOJ Seeks Injunction?

December 20, 2018 –  Crackdown On Conservation Easement Syndications

September 18, 2018 – Tax Court Rules Not Enough Conservation On Golf Course To Justify $10 Million Deduction

October 18, 2017 – Playboy Building In Tax Court – Facade easement case

July 24, 2017 – New IRS Scandal – Syndication Of Conservation Easement Deductions

July 10, 2017 – Failure To Get Bank Subordination Fatal To Easement Charitable Deduction

July 3, 2017 – Congress To IRS – Hands Off The President’s Favorite Charitable Tax Dodge

June 24, 2017 – Brookings Institution Takes On Biggest Charitable Tax Break Used By President Trump

December 29, 2016 – IRS Cracking Down On Easement Donation Syndications

December 24, 2016 – Tax Court Sustains IRS Strict Interpretation Of Charitable Acknowledgement Rules

May 1, 2016 – $16 Million Golf Course Conservation Deduction Disallowed On Fine Points

April 28, 2016 – Claiming A Conservation Easement Deduction? Use A Tax Attorney

February 14, 2016 – Easement Deductions – A Place In Greenwich Village And A $25 Million Eagles Nest

January 14, 2016 – Conservation Easement Tax Deductions And Valuation Abuse

January 9, 2016 – Poor Return Preparation Kills Facade Easement Tax Deduction

December 17, 2015 –  Venus Flytraps And Elusive Gator On Golf Course Not Worth Millions In Tax Deductions

June 20, 2015 – In Defense Of Conservation Easement Charitable Deductions

June 1, 2015 –  Conservation Easements – Tax Court Lets Owner Sell Them Or Give Them But Not Both

March 25, 2015 – Did Andie MacDowell’s Mountain Hideaway Require Tax Incentives?

August 5, 2014 – Easement Valuations Not So Easy Anymore

July 16, 2014 – Facade Easement Deduction Allowed

June 25, 2014 – Facade Easement Valuation Cannot Be Percentage Rule Of Thumb

May 8, 2014 – Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Owner Scores Touchdown In Tax Court – Valuation

July 15, 2013 – Side Agreement Voids Easement Charitable Deduction

June 5, 2013 – Conservation Easement No Deduction For Hypothetical Vineyard

July 30, 2012 – First Circuit In Easement Donation Case – Don’t Confuse The South End With South Boston

May 7, 2012 – Donating TriBeCa Facade Easement Is Like Renouncing Your Super Powers

February 16, 2012 – Fantasy Gravel Mining And Other Fun From The Tax Court –  Esgar Corporation

January 18, 2012 – Is Tax Court Decision End of Colorado Conservation Range War?

December 12, 2011 – Of Thongs and Sheet Music – 10 Lamest Taxpayer Arguments of 2011 –  Tax Court Boltar LLC – Valuation case where hypothetical development did not fit on the land.

July 5, 2011 – Facade Easement Deduction Allowed

July 5, 2011 – Facade Easement Deduction Not Allowed- Not Real Property Interest And Not Perpetual

February 21, 2011 – OK 2010 This is Really Goodbye –  Brief discussion of conservation easement case that turned on valuation – Trout Ranch LLC.

May 26, 2011 – How to Screw Up an Easement Deduction

May 18, 2011 –Conservation Easements A New Field For Villainy – An oddly prescient piece arising out of PLR 201110020 which revoked the exempt status of a sketchy land trust.

November 12, 2010 – Time To Purge The Draft Posts – Brief treatment of Tax Court decision in case of Gordon Kaufman, a facade easement case.