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than 125,000 acres of forests, 108,000 acres of farmland, 4,700 acres of wetlands, and 1,000 miles of streams or rivers.
In the year and a half since the Joint Committee on Taxation recommended drastically reducing the federal tax incentives, supporters of conservation, including many local citizens, persuaded Congress not to diminish the successful work of conservation. As a result, the new law actually expands the tax credit. This law applies to easements donated in 2006 and 2007, and will:
• raise the maximum deduction from 30% of a donor’s adjusted gross income (AGI) in any year to 50%
• allow qualified farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their AGI; and
• increase the span of time over which a donor can use the deduction from 5 years after the year of donation to 15 years afterward.
The bill also institutes some reasonable reforms intended to curb abuses. Congressional leaders have indicated that they will be interested in extending the law beyond 2007, if progress is made toward land trust accreditation and other reforms.
At the state level, the Virginia Land Preservation Tax Credit has also been targeted for reductions, but again, active support for conservation has helped to avert serious cuts. The General Assembly recently passed legislation that would reduce the tax credit from 50% to 40% of the value of a donated easement, institute an annual cap of $75 million on the program and add new restrictions. Governor Tim Kaine amended the legislation, making major improvements, which include raising the annual cap to $100 million. The
See TAX, Page A3
95.4%