The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is proposing a new rule that would have a significant negative impact on land conservation, especially in Virginia. The proposal would change past IRS guidance and treat all state tax credits issued for a donation as quid pro quo (essentially a “payment”). As a result, the donor’s federal income tax deduction would need to be reduced by the value of the credit.
This is not just about land conservation. The proposed rule will impact approximately 100 different state tax credit programs nationally. But in the Chesapeake watershed it would dramatically influence Virginia’s Land Preservation Tax Credit that fuels significant landscape conservation.
The Piedmont Environmental Council, a Chesapeake Conservation Partnership member, is asking all conservationists–regardless of jurisdiction–to weigh in on the proposed rule change. Find out more information on the proposed rule, where to comment and who to contact at PEC’s page here or at this two-page fact sheet. The IRS has set an October 11 deadline for public comments.
