Old Utility Easement No Bar to $24 Million Conservation Easement

A property owner can proceed with its dispute over a denied $24.4 million conservation easement deduction after a US Tax Court judge rejected the IRS’ assertion that the land is encumbered by a separate, overlapping utility easement.

Judge Albert G. Lauber denied the agency’s motion for partial summary judgment Tuesday, holding that Ivey Branch Holdings LLC’s donated easement on 141 acres of land in Jefferson County, Ga., isn’t, in fact, forfeited.

The adjacent right-of-way easement, which would have undercut the purposes of the conservation easement, was abandoned more than 20 years ago, he said.

Lauber held last summer that the ...