Land Trust Alliance Applauds Early Reintroduction of Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Land Trust Alliance, a national land conservation organization working to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America, today applauded the U.S. Senate's early reintroduction of the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act.

Sponsored by U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, a Republican, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, a Democrat, the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act (S. 170) would eliminate the ability of partnership investors to profit from the donation of a conservation easement on land held for a short time. Like legislation first introduced during the previous Congress, this bill's language makes clear that conservation easement donations, like other charitable donations, are not intended to be profit opportunities.

"This legislation is timely and essential," said Andrew Bowman, the Alliance's president. "Sen. Daines and Sen. Stabenow are working together ? with the support of 1,000 nonprofit land trusts across our nation ? in the best tradition of sensible bipartisan cooperation to get this done. Their leadership on this issue sends a clear message that conservation easements are not to be used as tax shelters. I look forward to this bill's passage."

In late 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS flagged a narrow subset of conservation easement transactions because bad actors had developed a way for investors to profit off such charitable donations. IRS data show that investors claimed, on average, deductions valued at nine times the amount of their original investment. Approximately $20 billion in tax deductions were claimed from 2010 to 2016, according to the IRS. In 2016 alone, $6 billion in unwarranted charitable deductions was claimed by participants from just 248 transactions.

Even though promoters of and participants in these transactions must now report their activities to the IRS or face fines, the problem persists. Just last month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil complaint against promoters of an allegedly abusive conservation easement syndication tax scheme. According to the complaint, the 96 transactions at issue resulted in over $2 billion in claimed federal tax deductions.

The Alliance has worked for years to counter this abuse, pressing the IRS to shut down these transactions and taking a number of actions to help its member land trusts identify and avoid these deals, all while ensuring honest philanthropy continues to be rewarded. But because these deals continue to be promoted, Sens. Daines and Stabenow reintroduced the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act.

Multiple land conservation organizations support the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act, including Ducks Unlimited, The Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy and Pheasants Forever, among others. Additionally, the Appraisal Institute, the nation's largest professional association of real estate appraisers, supports the bill.

For more information, visit http://www.landtrustalliance.org.

About the Land Trust Alliance

Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization that works to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America. The Alliance represents 1,000 member land trusts supported by more than 200,000 volunteers and 4.6 million members nationwide. The Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., and operates several regional offices. More information about the Alliance is available at http://www.landtrustalliance.org.

SOURCE Land Trust Alliance