Charles H. Browning, Jr., and Patricia L. Browning - Page 22

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          interpretation of the PCR valuation regulation narrowly focuses             
          on whether there exists a substantial record of sales of                    
          comparable easements, irrespective of whether a comparison of the           
          sale of the subject easement to such sales of comparable                    
          easements would yield the proper amount of the deduction under              
          section 170.  That misguided approach fails to recognize that a             
          substantial record of sales of comparable easements must provide            
          a “meaningful or valid comparison” to be considered a record of             
          comparable sales.  Sec. 1.170A-14(h)(3)(i), Income Tax Regs.                
          (third substantive sentence).                                               
               The meaningful or valid comparison standard serves the                 
          purpose of determining the proper amount of the deduction under             
          section 170 by establishing the fair market value of the                    
          contributed property rights and does not serve the function of              
          determining some market value of the subject easement as an                 
          independent objective.  Indeed, other portions of the PCR                   
          valuation regulation support that assertion.  In the case of a              
          charitable contribution of a perpetual conservation restriction             
          covering a portion of the contiguous property owned by a donor              
          and the donor’s family, the amount of the deduction under section           


          4(...continued)                                                             
          value of the easement conveyed because of the nonexistence of               
          comparable sales records, but the 100th participant would be                
          limited to establishing a value for the easement conveyed that is           
          no more than 50 to 80 percent of its fair market value.                     





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