These last two schemes wrap up the IRS’ Dirty Dozen – its annual list of top tax scams. Don’t be fooled by abusive easements and insurance arrangements.
11: Abusive Syndicated Conservation Easements
In syndicated conservation easements, promoters take a provision of the tax law allowing for conservation easements and twist it by using inflated appraisals of undeveloped land (or, for a few specialized ones, the facades of historic buildings), and by using partnership arrangements devoid of a legitimate business purpose. These abusive arrangements do nothing more than game the tax system with grossly inflated tax deductions and generate high fees for promoters.
The IRS urges taxpayers to avoid becoming ensnared in these deals sold by unscrupulous promoters. If something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. People can risk severe monetary penalties for engaging in questionable deals such as abusive syndicated conservation easements.
In the last five years, the IRS has examined many hundreds of syndicated conservation easement deals where tens of billions of dollars of deductions were improperly claimed. It is an agency-wide effort using a significant number of resources and thousands of staff hours. The IRS examines 100 percent of these deals and plans to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Hundreds of these deals have gone to court and hundreds more will likely end up in court in the future.
“We are devoting a lot of resources to combating abusive conservation easements because it is important for fairness in tax administration,” Commissioner Rettig stated. “It is not fair that wage-earners pay their fair share year after year but high-net-worth individuals can, under the guise of a real estate investment, avoid millions of dollars in tax through overvalued conservation easement contributions.”
12: Abusive Micro-Captive Insurance Arrangements
In abusive “micro-captive” structures, promoters, accountants, or wealth planners persuade owners of closely-held entities to participate in schemes that lack many of the attributes of insurance.
For example, coverages may “insure” implausible risks, fail to match genuine business needs or duplicate the taxpayer’s commercial coverages. The “premiums” paid under these arrangements are often excessive and are used to skirt the tax law.
Recently, the IRS has stepped up enforcement against a variation using potentially abusive offshore captive insurance companies. Abusive micro-captive transactions continue to be a high-priority area of focus.
The IRS has conducted thousands of participant examination and promoter investigations, assessed hundreds of millions of dollars in additional taxes and penalties owed, and launched a successful settlement initiative. Additional information regarding the settlement initiative can be found in IRS takes next step on abusive micro-captive transactions; nearly 80 percent accept settlement, 12 new audit teams established. The IRS’s activities have been sustained by the Independent Office of Appeals, and the IRS has won all micro-captive Tax Court and appellate court cases, decided on their merits, since 2017.
Please visit the IRS website or contact an HW&Co. Advisor today for more information.
