Please let this serve as notice to our conservation easement donors that a recent IRS notice that may impact your easement and federal tax deduction.

In response to recent legislation passed by Congress, the IRS issued Notice 2023-30 in late April of this year. Notice 2023-30 contains IRS-approved wording for the boundary line adjustment and extinguishment sections of conservation easements, called “safe harbor language.”

The IRS has given conservation easement donors across America a window of time to amend their conservation easements, if they choose, by substituting the safe harbor language to ensure their tax deductions remain valid.

If you have donated a conservation easement and taken advantage of the federal tax deduction, you may wish to discuss this notice and safe harbor language with your legal counsel. If you choose to amend your easement with CVC, please contact us as soon as possible. These amendments must be recorded on or before July 24, 2023, to be eligible under the IRS notice.

It is important to note that the IRS notice says that an easement amendment to include this safe harbor language is not mandatory. It is entirely up to each donor and their legal counsel if they would like to pursue this amendment to the easement.

If you have questions or concerns about this notice, please contact the attorney you worked with on your easement donation.  The Coastal Virginia Conservancy staff and board cannot provide legal, financial or tax advice and no information provided in this letter should be considered as such.

Attached: IRS Notice 2023-30