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Be an ADVOCATE
Advocates Alert: New
IRS form and requirements for all conservation easement donors
Date: January 6, 2006
Update: See the January 19 update.
Update: Learn about changes to Form 990
The Internal Revenue
Service has published a new Form 8283 and new instructions that require additional information from conservation easement donors .
The new instructions can be seen at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8283.pdf. The
new form is at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8283.pdf. Any
donor of a conservation easement in tax year 2006 should use the new form and
follow the new instructions.
The new instructions require that conservation easement donors attach to their 8283 a statement that:
- Identifies the conservation purposes furthered by your donation,
- Shows, if before and after valuation is used, the FMV of the underlying property before and after the gift;
- States whether you made the donation in order to get a permit or other approval from a local or other governing authority and whether the donation was required by a contract, and
- If you or a related person has any interest in other property nearby, describes that interest.
The new instructions also state:
"The donee must be a qualified organization as defined in section 170(h)(3) and must have the resources to be able to monitor and enforce the conservation easement.... To
enable the organization to do this, you [the donor] must give it
[the donee organization] documents, such as maps and photographs,
that establish the condition of the property at the time of the
gift."
Sincerely,
Russell Shay
Director of Public Policy
Land Trust Alliance
rshay@lta.org
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