JMRPWG agenda 102898 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Maximum Donor Deductions . Obtaining tax- exempt status does not automatically give donors maximum income tax benefits . The extent of deductibility will depend on the category of tax exemption under which the land trust qualifies and the nature of the property contributed to it . There are three ways in which a land trust may qualify for maximum donor deductions : as a " arity, " as a "private operating foundation, " or as a "supporting publicly supported ch organization . " Maintaining Tax Exempt Status . The Internal Revenue Service requires exempt organizations to file annual tax forms . Forms should be filed even if the application for exempt status is still pending, and the land trust is required to make its annual returns for the past three years available for public inspection. The reporting forms filed by the land trust must also continue to demonstrate compliance with the requirements for a charitable organization and the specific tests for public charity or private foundation . Charitable organizations are not allowed to support or oppose candidates for public office under the Internal Revenue Code, but they are allowed to engage in limited lobbying for or against proposed legislation if they are qualified as public charities . Lobbying includes only attempts to influence legslation. Actions by executive, Judicial, and administrative bodies are not legislation . Thus, expenditures made to influence these bodies are not restricted or prohibited . Saving Land Saving land is the heart of a land trust ' s activities . However, most land trusts would like to protect more land than their limited time and resources permit . It is for this reason that a land trust needs to establish guidelines for selecting the land it will try to protect . Likewise, a trust must utilize those land protection methods which he within its legal and financial capabilities . Land Conservation Criteria To establish guidelines for selecting land to protect, most trusts rely first on their mission statement . The statement defines the overall scope of the land trust ' s activities and the type of resources it intends to protect . In addition to narrowing its focus . in a general way through the purpose and goals statement a land trust needs to establish written criteria for determining whether it wi , ll protect specific parcels of land . Such criteria help insure that limited resources are used wisely, provide a rational , defensible program of conservation, and avoid projects that could be a serious liability . Criteria cover factors such as the type of significance of the resource in question, the property ' s proximity to other protected areas, the degree of threat to the property, the likelihood that the proposed project can actually protect the resource in perpetuity, the size of the property, and the long-term costs for the land trust . Criteria should be designed to screen out properties with excessive management difficulties . Criteria can also give the trust an objective basis on which to refuse parcels that do not have sufficient public benefit . 10