The 2008 Farm Bill included an
extension of significant tax incentives for farmers and ranchers interested in protecting
their lands in perpetuity with a conservation easement. These conservation tax
incentives are
slated to expire December 31, 2009. The California Rangeland Trust worked with
the California Cattlemen’s Association, the California Rangeland Conservation
Coalition, the Land Trust Alliance and hundreds of local, state and federal
groups to include the extension of this important tax incentive in the 2008 Farm Bill.
To hear immediate-past Chairman of
the Board, Darrell Wood, talk about the benefits of these conservation tax
incentives: Click here
How the Tax Incentive
Works
The renewed incentive helps
landowners protect properties with important natural, historic, and
agricultural values by:
Raising the deduction a donor
can take for donating a conservation easement from 30 percent of his or
her Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in any year to 50 percent;
Allowing qualifying farmers
and ranchers to deduct up to 100 percent of their AGI; and
Extending the carry-forward
period for a donor to take tax deductions for a voluntary conservation from 5 to 15 years.
Under prior law, an agricultural
landowner earning $50,000 a year who donated a conservation easement worth $1
million could take a total of no more than $90,000 in tax deductions.Under the new law, that landowner can take as
much as $800,000 in tax deductions. Donors of conservation easements often also realize reductions
in property tax and estate tax valuations.
In order to take advantage of the
federal tax incentive for the donation of a conservation easement, the
landowner must obtain an appraisal that meets the IRS requirements, a process
that can take several weeks.Anyone
interested in pursuing this opportunity, should begin the process soon in order
to meet the December 31 deadline.
More Information
Regarding the Conservation Tax Incentive
For more information regarding this tax incentive please
visit the Land Trust Alliance website www.lta.org or click for their
updated conservation tax incentives brochure.
Additional LTA information on the tax incentive can be found at the following links.
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