IRS TARGETS CAPTIVE INSURANCE AND SYNDICATED CONSERVATION EASEMENTS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has targeted micro captives for years, but in more recent times they have ramped up their efforts to do so, including them on its ‘Dirty Dozen’ list of tax scams since 2014, along with other actions. In 2016, the Department of Treasury and IRS issued Notice 2016-66, which formally labelled micro captives as ‘transactions of interest’. The IRS advised that these transactions have the potential for tax avoidance or evasion. Starting in the early 2000’s, developers and tax shelter promoters began exploiting conservation easements to provide huge tax deductions for donations that provided little or no conservation benefit. The problem reached the point that the IRS issued Notice 2017-10 which described certain syndicated conservation easement arrangements and listed them as tax shelter transactions. The IRS is auditing easements. Lance Wallach receives hundreds of calls annually to help people fight the IRS and get their money back from the promoters of these scams. As an expert witness, Lance's side has never lost a lawsuit. Google Lance Wallach and your advisor, who do you trust? 516-236-8440 Wallachinc@gmail.com