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To Leaders in Conservation:
Late last night, the US Senate passed
a tax bill that included a significant expansion of the deductions
available to landowners who donate a conservation easement to a
land trust . Thanks to the great work of land trusts
throughout the country, not only did we block the Joint Committee
on Taxation proposal to eliminate tax deductions for conservation,
but we have won support for a dramatic expansion of that incentive!
We are also pleased to report that this Senate
bill includes some much-needed appraisal reforms but does
not contain unreasonable restrictions on conservation easements.
The Senate bill does not include any new limitations on the size
or composition of conservation easements on land, or any new requirements
for donees accepting those easements.
The bill provides for extending the carry-forward
period for tax deductions from 5 to 15 years and raising the cap
on conservation deductions from 30 percent of a donor's income to
50 percent - and to 100 percent for farmers and ranchers. The bill
also includes a variety of changes in law affecting charities and
charitable contributions, including a significant tightening of
the rules on donations of easements for the protection of historic
structures, and tightening of the rules on appraisers and appraisals
of all donated property (including conservation lands and easements.
The details of what the Senate passed are posted on our website:
www.lta.org/publicpolicy/s2020_easements.pdf
This story is far from over. The House counterpart
of this bill does not include the conservation incentive, and getting
the House to accept the Senate provision will not be easy. A
final decision could be made in the next month, and we will need
your help to influence it.
I want to personally thank each and every one
of you who helped get us to this point -- each person and organization
that contacted their Senators about the importance of the work of
land trusts and the implications of the changes suggested by the
Joint Committee on Taxation for that work; everyone that helped
us raise the financial resources for LTA's work here in Washington,
DC; and every one who helped demonstrate our community's commitment
to high standards and public benefit, by adopting Land Trust Standards
and Practices and helping us to design a private-sector accreditation
process for conservation organizations. The inclusion of an expanded
tax incentive and the absence of draconian restrictions is a great
victory for land conservation!
Sincerely,
Rand Wentworth
President
Land Trust Alliance
1331 H Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
202.638.4725
ProtectPrivateConservation@lta.org
To
learn more about this issue, visit the Land Trust Alliance's policy
website.
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