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(terracing), with Beltzer v. United States, 4 AFTR 2d 5595, 59-2
USTC par. 9701 (D. Neb. 1959) (land leveling).
In 1954, Congress added section 175 to the Code, which was
intended to provide statutory rules under which taxpayers engaged
in the business of farming could "deduct certain expenditures for
the purpose of soil or water conservation in respect of land used
in farming or for the prevention of erosion of land used in
farming." S. Rept. 1622, to accompany H.R. 8300, 83d Cong., 2d
Sess., 216. Until 1986, section 175 remained substantially
unchanged from its original enactment in 1954, with the exception
of several amendments not relevant here. Before 1986, neither
section 175, itself, nor its legislative history, nor the related
regulations, specified the locale in which the improved farmland
had to be situated.
In 1991, the IRS issued Tech. Adv. Mem. 91-19-005 (Jan. 18,
1991) (TAM), in the first part of which the IRS concluded that
the partnerships' pre-1987 conservation expenditures could
qualify under section 175 even if paid or incurred with respect
to foreign land. As a consequence, respondent has not challenged
Koramba No. 1's conservation expenditures paid or incurred in
calendar 1986.
Unfortunately from the partnerships' perspective, however,
the IRS in the TAM also took the position (which is respondent's
position here) that, even if a proper section 175 election had
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