Tax advantages Conservation easements are growing in popularity as a way for landowners to protect their property from future development and save on taxes. That's nearly five times the acreage that was preserved by easements a decade earlier. You can place your entire property or a part of it in a conservation easement. The value of property tied to an easement typically drops because its value for development falls when restrictions are attached to it. That in turn may also lower your property taxes.
Conservation easements offer other tax advantages.
If it's a permanent easement and you donate the land to a charitable conservation group, you are entitled to an income-tax deduction. The value of the easement is the difference between the land's value with and without the easement. If you put an easement on land located within 25 miles of a city or a national park or within 10 miles of an urban national forest, your executor can exclude up to 40 percent of the remaining value of the land from your estate. This column, by editors at Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, appears every Thursday.