News & Analysis as of

Conservation Easements

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Understanding the Farm Bill's Conservation Program Contracts and Regulations

For most, the Farm Bill is understood to provide a safety net for the nation’s agricultural producers and a nutrition-assistance program for the nation’s most vulnerable. This understanding is generally correct; the Farm...more

Polsinelli

Real or Ruse? IRS’s New Settlement Initiative for Syndicated Conservation Easements

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced a new settlement initiative for Syndicated Conservation Easements (SCEs) that are currently under audit and have not reached the Tax Court. This new settlement initiative...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Northwest Arkansas Land Trust/Ozark Natural Science Center: Partnership Announced to Enhance Educational Opportunities at the...

The Northwest Arkansas Land Trust (“Trust”) issued an August 5th news release stating that it had entered into a partnership with the Ozark Natural Science Center (“Center”). The stated purpose of the partnership is to...more

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

DOJ Settles Conservation Easement Case

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement in Townley, a case concerning a $43 million conservation easement deduction. Earlier this year, I wrote an article highlighting a case in which, by most measures, the IRS...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Tax Court: As to Listed Transaction, IRS Must Adhere to APA

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In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the IRS was confronted with a proliferation of corporate transactions that it viewed as aggressive tax shelters. Relying on the authority Congress delegated through Section 6011(a), the IRS...more

Polsinelli

Tax Court Strikes out Smoltz and Klesko’s Big K SCE, but Provides Relief for Those Facing Fraud Allegations

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In the late 1990s, former Atlanta Braves players John Smoltz and Ryan Klesko formed Big K Farms (“Big K”), a partnership that, over the years, acquired approximately 1,500 acres of land in Georgia for around $4 million. From...more

Polsinelli

Easement Fund Victory on Perpetuity Will Result in More Attention on Valuation

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In the latest victory for taxpayers, the Tax Court determined that the Treasury failed to follow federal law in enacting a conservation easement perpetuity rule known as the “proceeds regulation.” The majority opinion held...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Tax Court: Conservation Easement Proceeds Regulation Is Procedurally Invalid Under APA

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In holding that that Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-14(g)(6)(ii) (Proceeds Regulation) is procedurally invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the U.S. Tax Court abandoned its precedent in Oakbrook Land Holdings, LLC v....more

Polsinelli

Bare Knuckle Conservation Easement Brawl Leaves Participants in Limbo

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Two recent tax court cases paint an ominous picture for professionals and investors who participated in listed syndicated conservation easement transactions. Coming on the heels of the Fisher conviction and his lengthy...more

Polsinelli

CPA gets 25 years for Promoting Conservation Easement Deductions

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Judge Batten, Chief United States District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, handed down lengthy sentences in the first-of-its-kind criminal trial related to syndicated conservation easements (“SCEs”). On January...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

One Appraiser Goes to Prison, Another Goes Home: What to Expect from the IRS

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Most appraisers don’t go to prison, and those that do, don’t go for appraising. So it’s no wonder why much has been made of the one-year prison sentence recently handed down to Walter Roberts II, an appraiser who pleaded...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Boston Mountains Scenic Wildlife Corridor/Crawford County: Northwest Arkansas Land Trust Establishes 580-Acre Conservation...

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission issued a news release stating that the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust (“NWALT”) has established a 580-acre conservation easement in Crawford County, Arkansas. The conservation easement...more

Polsinelli

Conservation Easements: Palpable Fraud or Honest Mistakes? A Federal Jury Returns a Split Verdict

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On September 22, 2023 a federal jury convicted two promoters, CPA Jack Fisher and attorney James Sinnott, in the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) first criminal trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements...more

Polsinelli

Slogans and Insults: Fisher Defendants Respond to the Government’s Novel Conservation Easement Case

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Last week, the first federal criminal trial related to syndicated conservation easement (“SCE”) deals began with impaneling the jury and opening statements. Each of the Fisher defendants on trial, Jack Fisher, James Sinnott,...more

Polsinelli

Government Asserts the Defendants Lied and Cheated the IRS out of over $1.3 Billion: The Government’s Opening Statement of the...

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The first criminal prosecution of syndicated conservation easement promoters began on July 18, 2023, with the government laying out its case against defendants Jack Fisher, James Sinnott, and Clayton Weibel.  A Department of...more

Polsinelli

First Criminal Syndicated Conservation Easement Trial Begins this Week

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Polsinelli’s Government Investigations and Tax attorneys continue to follow the well-known Fisher case, the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) first criminal indictment related to syndicated conservation easements. The trial is...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Conservation Easements: Federal Safe Harbor Language for Extinguishment and Boundary Line Adjustments

On Dec. 29, 2022, the United States Congress passed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE Act 2.0). Section 605(d) of the SECURE Act 2.0 gave conservation easement donors a safe harbor to amend provisions relating to...more

Polsinelli

Appraiser Pleads Guilty to Fraud in Syndicated Conservation Easement Case

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Polsinelli’s Government Investigations and Tax attorneys continue to follow the well-known Fisher case, the Department of Justice’s ("DOJ") first criminal indictment related to syndicated conservation easements. Walter...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 21 - Conservation Easement Donations: Tax Shelter or Charitable Contribution...

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“If it is a conservation easement and the people who are receiving the deduction are outside of family...the IRS assumption is that it's a tax shelter.” A backlog of conservation easement Tax Court cases and IRS audits are...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Beaver Lake Watershed: Northwest Arkansas Land Trust Announces Establishment of 75-Acre Conservation Easement

The Northwest Arkansas Land Trust (“NWALT”) has announced that 75 acres in the Beaver Lake Watershed is now protected pursuant to a donated conservation easement. The acreage is described as being located: . . ....more

Freeman Law

Tax Court in Brief | Cattail Holdings, LLC v. Comm’r | Conservation Easement “Protected in Perpetuity” and Supervisory Approval of...

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Summary: In September 2016 Dolomite Holdings 251, LLC (Dolomite), acquired a 723-acre tract of land in Virginia. On November 28, 2017, Dolomite contributed 207 acres of this tract (Property) to Cattail in exchange for a 100%...more

Polsinelli

$1.7 Trillion Spending Bill Drops the Hammer on Conservation Easements

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Only months after the U.S. Tax Court and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the IRS failed to adhere to the Administrative Procedures Act when it promulgated Notice 2017-10 and designated most Syndicated Conservation...more

Freeman Law

Tax Court in Brief | Brooks v. Comm’r | Charitable Contribution Deductions for Conservation Easement; Contemporaneous Written...

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Tax Litigation:  The Week of December 19th, 2022, through December 23rd, 2022 Starer v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2022-124 | December 20, 2022 |Wells, J. |Docket No. 615-13 Mamadou v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2022-121 | December 20, 2022...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

Charitable Giving – It’s Not Just for December

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At the end of the year, many people think about giving to charities, especially people who are seeking additional tax deductions. In fact, statistics show that as much as 30% of charitable giving is done in the last month of...more

Polsinelli

The IRS is Not Backing Down: Proposed Regulations Issued Regarding Abusive Tax Shelters Including Certain Syndicated Conservation...

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Less than a month after the heavily followed Green Valley Investors, LLC, et al., decision, the IRS issued proposed regulations to identify certain syndicated conservation easement transactions as listed transactions – this...more

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