According to the latest IRS Statistics of Income Bulletin, Fall 2012 (www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/08inreturnsbul.pdf), more than 38 million individual taxpayers claimed deductions for charitable contributions of nearly $170 million on returns filed in the government’s 2010 fiscal year. The amount of these deductions was up by 7.7 percent over the previous year. There have been some interesting developments impacting charitable contributions. Here is a roundup.
Conservation Easements
Generally, no deduction is allowed for a donation of a partial interest in charity. However, there are several exceptions, including one for donations of conservation easements. A donation of a conservation easement is allowed if two conditions are met (Code Sec. 170(h)):
