Terrene Investments, Ltd., Deerbrook Construction, Inc., Tax Matters Partner - Page 7




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          two appraisers whom it hired both valued the parcel at about $2.7           
          million.  The Wilkersons were a bit skeptical, and talked with              
          several people in the business before they had Terrene claim such           
          a large deduction.  Having convinced themselves that the                    
          appraisals were correct, they had Terrene donate the parcel to              
          the Assemblies of God Foundation in November 1998, and claim a              
          $2.7 million charitable contribution deduction on its 1998                  
          partnership return.  Their initial skepticism was justified when            
          the return was chosen for audit.  The Commissioner determined               
          that the fair-market value of the donated land was only $150,000,           
          and he mailed Terrene a notice of Final Partnership                         
          Administrative Adjustment (FPAA).  Terrene timely filed its                 
          petition, and the case was tried in Houston on the valuation                
          question alone.                                                             
                                     Discussion                                       
               The question before us is really a question of just what               
          effect the four holes drilled into the 31.41-acre parcel of the             
          Hamblen Road property had on its value.  Under section 170, the             
          amount of the deduction for a contribution of property to a                 
          charity is its fair-market value (FMV) at the time of donation.             
          Sec. 1.170A-1(c)(1), Income Tax Regs.  The regulations define FMV           
          as “the price at which the property would change hands between a            
          willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any                 
          compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of           







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