2024-07-16
Continuing our series on Famous Tax Quotes (quotes from court opinions and rulings with language that is colorful or that concisely states an important tax principle) today's tax quote is from a Fourth Circuit case that came out yesterday dealing with deductions for conservation easements:
The Brookses * * * acted with an evident greed * * *. Their documentation was sloppy and inadequate. But more remarkable was their attempt to claim a $5.1 million deduction for a limited easement estate on property that they had purchased in fee simple for $652,000 only a year earlier. Such a claim simply does not pass any reasonable smell test, much less the tax law’s requirements.
Brooks v. Commr. , __ F.4th __ (4th Cir. 2024).