Georgia DOR Releases Guidance for Same-Sex Couples Filing in Georgia

On July 14, 2015, the Georgia Department of Revenue (“DOR”) released tax return filing guidance guidance for same-sex couples in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. ___ (2015) which required states to license and recognize same-sex marriage. The Georgia DOR now will recognize same-sex marriage in the same way it recognizes marriages of opposite-sex couples. The Georgia DOR will recognize all marriages where the marriage license was issued in Georgia and all marriages lawfully licensed and performed out of state.Unknown

The guidance is important for Georgia same-sex couples that were married in a state legally recognizing marriage before 2015. Before the July 14 guidance, those couples were required to file Georgia individual income tax returns as if they were single – despite being required to adopt a federal filing status as married (either jointly or separately). Married same-sex Georgia couples who have not yet filed their 2014 Georgia income tax return may now file under the same rules that apply to legally married opposite-sex couples. If a legally married same-sex couple has already filed their 2014 return, they are permitted to file an amended return under the same rules that applied to legally married opposite-sex couples in 2014.

Georgia same-sex couples that were legally married in another state prior to 2014 are permitted to file amended Georgia income tax returns under the rules that applied for the tax years in question to lawfully married opposite-sex couples. Under O.C.G.A. § 48-2-35(c)(1)(A) a claim for refund be filed within three years of the later of the date of payment of the tax to the Georgia DOR or the due date (including any extensions granted) for filing the original return for that period.

Read the Georgia DOR guidance here.

Avengers Assemble: Tax Court Takes on Marvel’s Tax Attributes

It’s really hard to not take the opportunity to blog about the world’s greatest superhero franchise. Despite the tag line, this case might be better described as Avengers Disassemble, because that’s what Marvel wanted to do with its tax attributes following the bankruptcy of four members of its consolidated group in 1998.

3964_2891The case was decided on cross motions for summary judgment. With no facts in dispute, the question boiled down to whether the consolidated net operating loss (CNOL) to be reduced under section 108(b)(2)(A) is the entire CNOL (single-entity approach) or an allocable portion of the CNOL (separate-entity approach). To put it in cinematic speak, should the Avengers superpowers be considered assembled or individually? Before going further, it should be noted that subsequently issued regulations would address this question should it happen today and application of the holding is limited to similarly situated taxpayers in pre-2005 tax periods (though that doesn’t solve the Marvel movie rankings).

At the time of the bankruptcies, Marvel’s entire consolidated group had a net operating loss of $187,154,680. The bankrupt entities had COD income of $171,462,463. Marvel had to reduce its consolidated NOL under IRC §108(b)(2)(A) to account for the COD income excluded in bankruptcy. Marvel allocated its consolidated NOLs according to the lesser of (1) each member’s excluded COD income or (2) each member’s allocable share of CNOL. Under Marvel’s allocation method, the NOLs were reduced by $89,566,469 resulting in a carryover CNOL of $71,186,863. The NOL was reported and reduced by offsetting income in subsequent years.

At the beginning of 2003, the Marvel claimed a remaining NOL carryforward of $47,424,026. The IRS denied application of the NOL carryforward in 2003 and 2004 on the theory that the 1998 tax attribute reduction of the NOLs should have been determined on a consolidated basis instead of a separate entity basis. Under the IRS theory the consolidated NOL of $187,154,680 would have been reduced by the total COD income of the bankrupt subsidiaries ($171,462,463) and there would be no remaining NOL to carryforward at the beginning of 2003. Marvel disagreed and petitioned the Tax Court. For a technical discussion of NOL carryforwards in a consolidated group, please check out Tony Nitti’s great post on this case.

In a detailed opinion that is somewhat less exciting than almost any Marvel Enterprises cinematic event (except maybe this one), the Court sided with the Assembled Avengers and applied an interpretation of the Supreme Court’s opinion in United Dominion Indus., Inc. v. United States, 532 U.S. 822 (2001), which supported the government’s consolidated group/single entity theory. Marvel lost this battle but the superheroes will be back again next year.

Read the full opinion here, while I step out for some popcorn.

All images and character references are to properties of Marvel Enterprises, LLC.

Timing is Everything in Easement Donations, or Is It?

“There is a tide in the affairs of men which when taken at the flood leads on to fortune.”

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare understood the importance of timing to success. Apparently, the Tax Court holds a similar view when it comes to charitable donations of conservation easements.

life_is_all_about_timing_481189800This is our third post on the Tax Court’s opinion in Bosque Canyon Ranch. The memorandum decision isn’t necessarily an important case; it didn’t establish any new precedents for the Court. However, there is quite a bit about modern conservation easements packed into a fairly short opinion, which gives us an opportunity to unpack some of what is there.

Today, we look at the Court’s conclusion that the property transfers between the two Bosque Canyon limited partnerships and their partners were disguised sales. (Click here for a more detailed case summary.)

A transfer of partnership property to a partner within two years of a cash (or other) contribution by that partner is presumed to be a disguised sale under IRC §707. The Bosque Canyon partnerships received cash and transferred property to partners within a two year window. That timing is not in question.

The presumption in IRC §707 may be refuted by facts and circumstances showing that the transfer did not constitute a sale. Treas. Reg. §1.707-3(b)(2) suggests 10 circumstances when a sale might be present. The Court identified five of those factors in its opinion.

  • the timing and amount of the distributions to the limited partners were determinable with reasonable certainty at the time the partnerships accepted the limited partners’ payments;
  • the limited partners had legally enforceable rights, pursuant to the LP agreements, to receive their Homesite parcels and the appurtenant rights;
  • the transactions effectuated exchanges of the benefits and burdens of ownership relating to the Homesite parcels;
  • the distributions to the partners were disproportionately large in relation to the limited partners’ interests in partnership profits; and
  • the limited partners received their Homesite parcels in fee simple without an obligation to return them to the partnerships.

When the transfers between the partnership and partners are not simultaneous, an additional rule provides that a disguised sale occurs only if “the subsequent transfer is not dependent on the entrepreneurial risks of partnership operations.” Treas. Reg. §1.707-3(b)(1)(ii). The timing of the transfers was not in dispute either. They were not simultaneous.

The timing issue, however, came in the context of entrepreneurial risk. The taxpayers argued that the limited partners’ contributions would be at risk if the anticipated conservation easements were not granted. The Court rejected this argument based on the timing of the easement grants. Unfortunately, the conservation easements for both partnerships were granted before the limited partnership agreements were executed. The Court found that the payments were not subject to the entrepreneurial risks of the partnership because the easements were secured before the partnerships were formed. In the case of Bosque Canyon Ranch I, the easement was granted just two days before the agreement execution, prompting us to recall Maxwell Smart’s famous line.

Given the Court’s determination on entrepreneurial risk, there was no need to parse the specific facts and circumstances of these transfers, or whether the five factors identified by the court were enough to warrant disguised sale treatment. It leaves open the question whether similar, or even slightly different, facts and circumstances would be sufficient to find a disguised sale. We don’t know. But with time, and another case, there’s a fair chance we will.

Tax Court Denies Texas Conservation Easement

Last week we wrote about the Tax Court’s application of Belk v. Commissioner, 140 T.C. 1 (2013) in the Bosque Canyon Ranch case. Here’s a more detailed description of the case.

BCRBosque Canyon Ranch (“BCR”) is a 3,729 acre-tract in Bosque County, Texas. Petitioners formed BCR I, a Texas limited partnership, in July 2003. BCR I made $2.2 million in improvements to BC Ranch between 2003 and 2005.

In 2004, BCR I began marketing limited partnership interest (“LP units”) at $350,000 per unit. Each purchaser would become a limited partner in BCR I and the partnership would subsequently distribute a fee simple interest in a five-acre parcel of property (the “Homesite parcel”) to that limited partner. Each Homesite Parcel owner had the right to build a house on the parcel and use BC Ranch for various activities. The distribution of Homesite Parcels was conditioned on BCR I granting a conservation easement to the North American Land Trust (“NALT”) for 1,750 acres of BC Ranch.

BCR I granted the conservation easement to NALT on December 29, 2005.  The land subject to the conservation easement could not be used for residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, or agricultural purposes. BCR I had 24 LP purchasers in 2005 with payments totaling $8,400,000. BCR I obtained a certified appraisal report effective November 28, 2005, valuing the conservation easement at $8,400,000.

BCR II was formed in December 2005 as a Texas limited partnership and BCR I deeded 1,866 acres of BC Ranch to BCR II.  In 2006, BCR II began marketing Homesite parcels with offering documents were substantially similar to that of BCR I. BCR II granted NALT a conservation easement on September 14, 2007.  BCR II collected payments of $9,957,500 from 23 purchasers and obtained an appraisal valuing the 2007 easement at $7,500,000.

After all of the transfers, the 47 limited partners of BCR I and BCR II owned approximately 235 acres and 3,482 of the remaining 3,509 acres were subject to the 2005 and 2007 NALT easements.

Procedural History

BCR I filed a 2005 Form 1065 reporting capital contributions of $8,400,000 and claiming an $8,400,000 charitable contribution deduction related to the 2005 NALT easement. The IRS sent petitioner a 2005 FPAA on December 29, 2008, determining that BCR I was not entitled to a charitable contribution deduction. The IRS also determined that petitioners were subject to either accuracy-related or gross valuation misstatement penalties. IRS counsel submitted an amended answer on April 26, 2010, contending that the BCR I transactions at issue were sales of real property.

BCR II filed a 2007 Form 1065 reporting capital contributions of $9,956,500 and claiming an $7,500,000 charitable contribution deduction related to the 2007 NALT easement. The IRS sent petitioner a 2007 FPAA on August 23, 2011, determining that BCR II was not entitled to a charitable contribution deduction and that petitioners were subject to either accuracy-related or gross valuation misstatement penalties. IRS counsel did not allege that the BCR II transactions were sales of real property. The Court consolidated petitioners’ cases for trial.

Charitable Contribution Deductions

The Homesite parcel owners and the NALT could, by mutual agreement, modify the Homesite boundaries. The deed forbids a decrease in “the overall property subject to the easement” and changes in the “exterior boundaries of the property subject to the easement.” The deed also provides that the boundary changes only occur between unburdened parcels (the Homesite lots).

The Court found that the property protected by the 2005 and 2007 easements could lose this protection as a result of boundary modifications allowed after the easements were granted. Citing Belk v. Commissioner, 140 T.C. 1 (2013), the Court held that the restrictions were not granted in perpetuity as required under IRC § 170(h)(2)(C) because the 2005 and 2007 deeds allow modifications between the Homesite parcels and the property subject to the easements. Thus, the easements are not qualified real property interests required under IRC § 170(h)(1)(A). (There are some distinct factual differences from Belk that we noted in an earlier post found here).

Judge Foley also took issue with the lack of documentation establishing the condition of the property provided by petitioners to NALT as required by Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-14(g)(5)(i). The Court found that the documentation was “unreliable, incomplete, and insufficient to establish the condition of the relevant property on the date the respective easements were granted.”

Disguised Sale

Judge Foley found that the partnerships deeded the Homesite properties to the limited partners within five months of the limited partners’ payments for the property. Under Treas. Reg. 1.707-3(c)(1) and 1.707-6(a) transfers between a partnership and a partner within a two-year period are presumed to be a sale of the property to the partner unless the facts and circumstances clearly establish that the transfers do not constitute a sale.

Petitioners argued that the partners’ payments would be at risk, pursuant to the terms of the LP agreements, if the easements were not granted. The Court rejected this argument based on its finding that the 2005 and 2007 easements were granted prior to the execution of the BCR I and BCR II LP agreements, respectively.  Thus, the Court held that BCR I and BCR II were required to recognize income on any gains related to the 24 and 23 disguised sales by each limited partnership, respectively.

Gross Valuation Misstatement Penalties

Judge Foley held that the petitioners were liable for a 40% gross valuation misstatement penalty under IRC § 6662(h). Petitioner’s argued that they acted reasonably and in good faith by procuring a qualified appraisal from a qualified appraiser and by relying on a memorandum from their CPA.  Judge Foley found that while these actions constituted a good faith investigation of the easement’s value, BCR I did not provide NALT with sufficient documentation of the condition of the property being donated and affirmed the 40% gross valuation misstatement penalty against BCR I for 2005.

For returns filed after August 17, 2006, the gross valuation misstatement penalty is modified by Treas. Reg. § 1.6662-5(g) when the determined value of the property is zero and the value claimed is greater than zero. Additionally, taxpayers who file returns after 2006 can no longer claim a reasonable cause defense for gross valuation misstatements relating to charitable contribution deductions. (Though reasonable cause is still a valid defense for substantial valuation misstatements. See, IRC § 6664(c)(3).) Thus, the Court held that BCR II is liable for the 40% gross valuation misstatement penalty relating to the 2007 tax year.

Read the full opinion here: Bosque Canyon Ranch L.P., v. Commissioner, TC-Memo. 2015-130

Where to Draw the Line in a Conservation Easement?

“Heads I win, tails you lose / to the never mind / when to draw the line”

– “Draw the Line” Aerosmith (1977)

The Tax Court continues to take a page from Steven Tyler’s songbook when it comes to property lines and conservation easements. In Bosque Canyon Ranch, L.P. v. Commissioner, the Tax Court rejected two related partnerships’ deductions for the donation of conservation easements. Among the shortcomings the Court found with the partnerships’ donations was a deed provision permitting “modifications to the boundaries between the Homesite parcels.” The Homesite parcels were not subject to the conservation restrictions placed over the remainder of the development property.

LineThe potential post-donation modifications to the Homesite parcels were subject to the approval (within reasonable judgment) of the North American Land Trust; could not affect the exterior boundaries of the property subject to the easement; and the overall property subject to the easements could not be decreased. Despite these limitations, the Court, following Belk v. Commissioner, 140 T.C. 1 (2013), found that because the potential boundary modifications were in place at the time of the donation, the restrictions on the use of the property were not granted in perpetuity in violation of IRC 170(h)(2)(C).

The Belk court found that the perpetual donation requirement of IRC 170(h)(2)(C) was violated by a deed allowing the substitution of property subject to the original easement for continguous property of equal area and value after the donation of the easement. The Belk court seemed to be concerned with its ability to identify the specific real property interest subject to the easement at the date the easement was granted. Presumably, the Court felt it could not do that because the potential substitution of adjacent property could change the boundaries of the burdened parcel at any time. And because the specific real property interest had not been identified upon donation, it had not been burdened in perpetuity.

The Bosque Canyon opinion does not provide the detailed deed language that the Belk opinion did, but it does describe the deed as forbidding a decrease in “the overall property subject to the easement” and changes in the “exterior boundaries of the property subject to the easement.” It also suggests that the boundary changes only occur between unburdened parcels (the Homesite lots). These deed provisions – at least as characterized by the court – seem to be a bit different from those in Belk.

Under the Bosque Canyon provisions there could be no change in the borders of the burdened parcel, no diminution of the property subject to the easement and apparently no change in or substitution of property not originally identified. It seems that the Bosque Canyon deeds were limited to redrawing internal boundary lines between unburdened parcels in the same development that included the conservation easement.

If that is the case, then does the deed language in Bosque Canyon really raise the same identification of restricted real property interest subject to the conservation easement issue that concerned the Court in Belk? Is the redrawing of these lines of any real consequence to the identification of a real property interest subject to perpetual protection?

Unfortunately, the Court took issue with much more than the deed modifications in Bosque Canyon (which we will discuss in a future post) so the prospect of appellate review on this discreet deed modification issue is slim. It seems unlikely that the Tax Court intends to create a “heads I win/tails you lose” situation when it comes to deed modifications in conservation easement cases. Nonetheless, Belk might warrant a closer look if it is going to continue to guide the Court’s interpretation of IRC 170(h)(2)(C).

Read the opinion here: Bosque Canyon Ranch L.P., v. Commissioner, TC-Memo. 2015-130