Land Donors Urge Appeals Court to Allow Charitable Deduction

The IRS exceeded its authority by retroactively applying unwritten, excessively technical interpretations of conservation easement rules in order to disallow more than $2.16 million in deductions, a Georgia couple told a federal appeals court.

Kenneth and Anita Brooks urged the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse the judgment of the US Tax Court, which sided with the IRS to disallow the charitable contribution deductions because the couple lacked proper documentation on the condition and quantity of donated land. The Tax Court’s decision damages good faith efforts by the Brooks to make a donation, and undermines the ...