At the moment, however, donations for conservation easements are eligible for an income tax deduction under the “old” rules. Under those rules, a donor can take an income tax deduction for a conservation easement gift up to 30% of the donor’s adjusted gross income (“AGI”) for the year of the gift, with a five-year carryforward. Under the increased incentives, a donor could take the deduction up to 50% of AGI, with a 15-year carryforward, and many working farmers and ranchers, as well as owners of forestland, could take the deduction up to 100% of AGI, also with a 15-year carryforward. See Preserving Family Lands: Book I, for more information on the incentives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News & Updates

Congress may have accomplished quite a bit in 2009, but two matters of particular importance to readers of the Preserving Family Lands books were left unfinished.

Increased Incentives for Conservation Easement Donations

First, the increased incentive for conservation easement donations, due to expire at the end of 2009, did indeed expire at the end of 2009. See the special updated edition of Preserving Family Lands: Book I, for more information on that incentive.

The Land Trust Alliance (“LTA”), at www.landtrustalliance.org, led the fight to extend the incentives and even to make them permanent. In fact, at last count, there were 264 co-sponsors in the House of a bill to make the incentives permanent (note that it takes 218 votes to have a majority in the House), and 40 cosponsors in the Senate. LTA believe that at some point reasonably early in 2010, Congress will take action to extend the incentives by at least one year, through 2010, so stay tuned for more information on that.