Judges Chide Parties in Conservation Easement Fight (Correct)

Judges on the Fourth Circuit at oral argument Friday worried that the IRS is taking too aggressive a stance in auditing conservation easement tax deductions, but seemed poised to rule against the taxpayers anyway.

Even if IRS scrutiny of conservation easements makes deductions for them difficult to claim, that doesn’t absolve the taxpayers of following the rules for claiming them, the panel seemed inclined to say. “Why wouldn’t someone be super careful” in documenting a donation? Judge Harvie Wilkinson III asked.

Kenneth and Anita Brooks donated 41 acres of an 85-acre parcel of land in Georgia for a conservation easement ...