A conservation easement is a voluntary restrictive easement that allows a landowner to limit the type or amount of development or conserve and protect natural resources on their property while retaining private ownership of the land. The conservation easement is signed by the landowner, who is the easement donor, and the Land Trust or Conservancy, is the party receiving the easement. The Land Trust or Conservancy accepts the easement with the understanding that it must enforce the terms of the easement in perpetuity. After the easement is signed, it is recorded with the County and runs with the land and binds all future owners of the land.
A fee simple transfer of land ownership is the clearest and most typical form of land ownership. Most all real estate transactions involving transfer of ownership are fee simple transactions. Land is exchanged for mutually acceptable payment and all rights to the land are transferred to the new owner. With an easement the donation value for tax purposes is the difference between the value of the land pre and post easement. With a fee simple donation a typical appraisal of the land value determines the donation value, thereby eliminating the somewhat subjective value calculation associated with an easement donation.
Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) – A QOZ is an economically distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualify as QOZs if they were nominated for that designation by a state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory and that nomination was certified by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury via his delegation of authority to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund – A QOF is an investment vehicle that files either a partnership or corporate federal income tax return and is organized for the purpose of investing in QOZ property.
When it is time to sell an investment property (met expectations, fully depreciated, tired of active management), there are many factors to consider. Whether investors are seeking to maximize gains, looking to increase the current level of income, or seeking to dispose of an underperforming asset, simply liquidating a property can create a number of taxable or recapture liabilities and obligations. Investors are taking the first step in maximizing investment results by executing a 1031 Exchange. In some of the highest tax brackets, simply “cashing out” can erode up to 40% of the gains on profitable, low basis assets on a combined state and federal level. With guidance from the Internal Revenue Service, investment sponsors construct securitized real property investments for use as suitable replacement property in a 1031 Exchange. By reinvesting sale proceeds into a securitized fractional real property program, investors may:
A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit from the total they owe. Incentive tax credits may be used to encourage behaviors like investing or parenting. A credit directly reduces tax bills, unlike tax deductions and tax exemptions, which indirectly reduce tax bills by reducing the size of the base (for example, a taxpayer’s income or property value) from which the tax bill is calculated.
Most tax credits are nonrefundable tax credits and so do not apply if no taxes are owed. However, some tax credits are refundable tax credits, so if the credit exceeds the amount of taxes owed, the excess is returned to the taxpayer.
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