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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 110

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit against

income tax for certain charitable conservation contributions of land by

small farmers and ranchers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 3, 2001

Mr. HEFLEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide

a credit against income tax for certain charitable conservation contributions of land by small farmers and

ranchers, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Land Con5 servation Tax Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR CERTAIN CHARITABLE CONSERVATION

2 CONTRIBUTIONS OF LAND BY SMALL FARM3 ERS AND RANCHERS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of

6 1986 (relating to foreign tax credit, etc.) is amended by

7 adding at the end the following:

8 ‘‘SEC. 30B. PRIVATE LAND CONSERVATION.

9 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli10 gible farmer or rancher, there shall be allowed as a credit

11 against the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable

12 year an amount equal to 10 percent of the amount which

13 would (but for subsection (d)(2)) be allowed for such year

14 as a deduction under section 170 for a qualified conserva15 tion contribution (as defined in section 170(h)).

16 ‘‘(b) LIMITATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The credit allowed by

19 subsection (a) for any taxable year shall not ex20 ceed the excess (if any) of—

21 ‘‘(i) $360,000, over

22 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount allowed by

23 subsection (a) (determined without regard

24 to subsection (e)) to the taxpayer for the

25 15 prior taxable years.
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1 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR JOINT RE2 TURNS.—The amount of the credit under sub3 section (a) on a joint return for any taxable

4 year shall be allocated equally between the

5 spouses for purposes of applying the limitation

6 under subparagraph (A) for succeeding taxable

7 years.

8 ‘‘(C) AGGREGATION RULE.—For purposes

9 of this paragraph, all members of the same con10 trolled group of corporations (within the mean11 ing of section 267(f)), and all persons under

12 common control (within the meaning of section

13 52(b)) but treating an interest of more than 20

14 percent as a controlling interest), shall be treat15 ed as 1 taxpayer.

16 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION BASED ON AMOUNT OF

17 TAX.—The credit allowed by subsection (a) for any

18 taxable year shall not exceed the excess (if any) of—

19 ‘‘(A) the regular tax for the taxable year

20 reduced by the sum of the credits allowable

21 under subpart A and the preceding sections of

22 this subpart, over

23 ‘‘(B) the tentative minimum tax for the

24 taxable year.
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1 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE FARMER OR RANCHER.—For pur2 poses of this section, the term ‘eligible farmer or rancher’

3 means—

4 ‘‘(1) in the case of an individual, a taxpayer

5 whose gross income from farming (as defined in sec6 tion 464(e)(1)) is 60 percent or more of the tax7 payer’s gross income for the taxable year; and

8 ‘‘(2) in the case of a C corporation—

9 ‘‘(A) the gross income of the corporation

10 from farming (as so defined) is 60 percent or

11 more of the corporation’s gross income for the

12 taxable year;

13 ‘‘(B) the stock of the corporation is not

14 publicly traded on a recognized exchange; and

15 ‘‘(C) the fair market value of the assets of

16 the corporation used in farming does not exceed

17 $20,000,000.

18 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—

19 ‘‘(1) ELECTION.—This section shall apply to a

20 taxpayer for the taxable year only if the taxpayer

21 elects its application for such year. Such an election,

22 once made, shall be irrevocable.

23 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION WITH SECTION 170.—No de24 duction shall be allowed under section 170 for a

25 qualified conservation contribution (as defined in
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1 section 170(h)) to a taxpayer who elects to take the

2 credit allowed by subsection (a) for a qualified con3 servation contribution during the 15-taxable-year pe4 riod described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii).

5 ‘‘(e) CARRYFORWARD OF EXCESS CREDIT.—If the

6 credit allowable under subsection (a) for any taxable year

7 exceeds the amount of the limitation imposed by sub8 section (b)(2) for such taxable year, such excess shall be

9 carried to the succeeding taxable year and added to the

10 credit allowable under subsection (a) for such succeeding

11 taxable year.’’

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec13 tions for subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter

14 1 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing:

‘‘Sec. 30B. Private land conservation.’’

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

17 this section shall apply with respect to donations of quali18 fied conservation contributions (as defined in section

19 170(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) made after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act.

21 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION LIMIT

22 FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS DOING BUSI23 NESS IN CORPORATE FORM.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 170(b)(1) of the Internal

25 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to corporations) is amend-
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1 ed by redesignating subparagraph (F) as subparagraph

2 (G) and by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following:

3 ‘‘(F) CERTAIN FARMERS AND RANCH4 ERS.—A qualified farmer or rancher (as defined

5 in section 30B(d)) shall be treated as an indi6 vidual for purposes of this section with respect

7 to any qualified conservation contribution.’’

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 170(b)(2)

9 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘corporation,’’ and

10 inserting ‘‘corporation (other than a corporation that is

11 an eligible farmer or rancher as defined in section 30B(d)

12 with respect to a qualified conservation contribution),’’.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

14 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the

15 date of the enactment of this Act.

16 SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF ESTATE TAX EXCLUSION FOR LAND

17 SUBJECT TO QUALIFIED CONSERVATION

18 EASEMENT.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section

20 2031(c)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is

21 amended by striking clause (i) and by redesignating

22 clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

2 this section shall apply to estates of decedents dying after

3 the date of the enactment of this Act.

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