A taxpayer is generally allowed a deduction for a charitable contribution of a conservation easement over undeveloped land or a historic building if the easement protects the property in perpetuity and meets certain other requirements.
However, in recent years, the IRS has been extremely aggressive in challenging such deductions. Rather than focusing on the value of an easement, which is a highly fact-specific inquiry, in many cases the IRS has sought to disallow charitable deductions as a result of technical flaws with conservation easement deeds.
