Zaxby’s Founder Settles Conservation Easement Deductions Case

The founder of the Zaxby’s restaurant chain is settling with the government over bids for tax breaks for a $43.3 million conservation easement donation, thus avoiding trial.

Tony Townley, his wife Elizabeth, the Justice Department, and the IRS on Wednesday filed a joint motion to dismiss the suit, having reached “an agreement in principle to resolve this matter.” The terms of the agreement were not disclosed in the motion.

The case had been calendared for a trial on Aug. 5. Judge Clay D. Land of the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia issued a notice of cancellation ...