The IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department have issued final regulations identifying certain syndicated easement transactions as “listed transactions,” classifying them as abusive tax schemes that must be reported to the IRS.
The final rules, released on Oct. 7, are part of an IRS effort to crack down on tax avoidance strategies involving inflated charitable deductions, with the agency working to close various loopholes and boost tax-related revenues.
Syndicated conservation easements are legal agreements in which property owners commit to limiting the use of their land for conservation purposes. By donating these easements as charitable contributions, they can claim tax breaks. The IRS has increased its scrutiny of these easements, citing concerns that they are often misused, particularly through inflated valuations….