The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the Tax Court's ruling that taxpayers were not entitled to deduct noncash charitable deductions because the taxpayers failed to comply, either fully or substantially, with the reporting requirements in I.R.C. § 170 and underlying regulations.  MORE »

Writing for onPhilanthropy.com, attorney Jonathan Gudema reports the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has issued an opinion in a case involving Robert Dillie this past June. Mr. Dillie operated a fraudulent foundation between 1996 and 2001. This foundation was in actuality a ponzi scheme which issued $55 million in gift annuities to over 400 donors, sold through investment advisers who were receiving commissions on the sales of new gift annuities. He is now serving 121 months in prison for his crimes but the legal fallout from his nefarious operation lives on.  MORE »

Plaintiffs (appellees) seek a determination that they were entitled to deduct from their Federal income tax return for the taxable year 1964 the replacement value of a life insurance policy which was given by them to a charitable institution, which amount was stipulated to be $4,000.67. Accordingly, plaintiffs seek a tax refund of $2,081.56.  MORE »

Blogging for TaxProf Blog, editor Paul L. Caron discusses the 10th circuit's denial of a $300,000 charitable deduction claimed by Leslie Stephen Jones, lead counsel for the defense of Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, for the donation of his papers in the case to the University of Texas.  MORE »

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the Tax Court's decision affirming the disallowance of deductions petitioners-appellants claimed for tuition and fees paid to their children's religious day schools.  MORE »

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the Tax Court's holding that a married couple who created business and charitable trusts that lacked economic substance did so fraudulently and were therefore liable for income taxes, self-employment taxes, and civil and accuracy-related penalties.  MORE »

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the Tax Court's denial of an estate tax charitable deduction based on the fact the estate failed to properly reform a defective charitable remainder unitrust via a timely judicial modification and despite the estate's argument that it made a good faith effort to substantially comply with the law. This case provides a good lesson in the remedies available to improperly drafted testamentary CRTs and how "not" to apply them.  MORE »

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the decison of the District Court in Edmond C. Galloway v. United States in denying an estate tax charitable deduction because a split-interest charitable trust did not take the form of a qualified charitable remainder annuity trust, charitable remainder unitrust, or pooled income fund in compliance with IRC section 2055(e).  MORE »

The Sixth Circuit of Appeals has affirmed the Tax Court's decision that a couple's contributions of conservation easements to a nonprofit were qualified conservation contributions and, contrary to the Commissioner's opinion, made "exclusively for conservation purposes."  MORE »

The Second Circuit of Appeals has affirmed a district court decision that denied a testamentary trust's charitable tax deduction and refund request based on the fact a power of appointment exercised by the surviving spouse was made on her own accord rather than under the terms of the trust instrument.  MORE »