Permanent Conservation Easement Incentives

Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have introduced the Conservation Easement Incentive Act, H.R. 1831. The bill would make permanent an incentive that allows modest-income landowners to receive significant tax deductions for donating conservation easements that permanently protect natural or historic resources on their lands. Specifically, the enhanced tax incentive allows working family ranchers and farmers, to deduct up to 100 percent of their income for as many as 16 years in order to deduct their gift's full value. First passed in 2006 and extended in the 2008 Farm Bill, this incentive is set to expire on Dec. 31 of this year. “We’ve seen a 50 percent increase in the number of conservation easement donations since Congress passed my provisions to enhance these tax benefits on a temporary basis in 2006,” says Thompson. “If current development trends continue in California, another 2 million acres will be paved over by 2050. It’s time we made these protections permanent. By making sure that landowners can count on these enhanced tax benefits, we’ll take a big step forward in preserving our agricultural lands and keeping our environment safe from over development.” Thompson and Cantor are members of the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over all federal tax measures...Pork