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Facade Easement - Inexpert Valuation

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Dunlap involved facade easement transfers to the National Architectural Trust (NAT), a qualified charity that preserves building easements across the country, although most are in New York City. In Dunlap the Tax Court rejected the taxpayers’ experts’ evidence of the value of their facade easement and, consequently, denied the taxpayers’ claim of a charitable deduction. Although allowing a deduction for their cash contributions to NAT to enforce the easement and not finding any penalties applicable, the Tax Court held that despite two valuation reports written by accepted valuation experts, the taxpayers had not established any value for their easement.

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