The Peconic Land Trust is applauding recent federal legislation to establish a permanent income tax deduction for landowners who donate conservation easements to preserve farmland and similar resources.
In a vote with bipartisan support—including that of local U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin—Congress made the tax incentive permanent late last year. The incentive previously had to be approved every two years, and it will also be made retroactive to January 1, 2015, when it last expired.
A permanent incentive will make it much more attractive for landowners to donate conservation easements, as they can rely on the future income tax deduction, explained John v.H. Halsey, the Peconic Land Trust’s president, on Friday.
“Here, on Long Island, the conservation easement tax incentive is particularly beneficial to our working farm families, providing them with the opportunity to consider bargain sales as part of a farmland conservation strategy,” Mr. Halsey had said in a release last month.
In a bargain sale easement, landowners are paid less than the full market value of the easement, but they are compensated for the balance through tax incentives such as the income tax deduction and perhaps a reduction in estate and property taxes through the devaluation of the land.
VIRGINIA GARRISON
Virginia Garrison on Jan 11, 2016