Protect Your Land
Do you own family land dating back generations that you want preserved forever – and for others to honor and enjoy? Perhaps you own a working farm that you want to continue operating under the protection of a land trust. Whatever is in your heart, the North Georgia Land Trust can take your dreams and build a legacy that will be cherished for good and forever.
Land Donation
Donating your land to a land trust is the permanent way to ensure the landscape you love is never paved or subdivided. By choosing conservation over development, you gain the lasting peace of mind that your meadows and forests will remain green in perpetuity. This act allows you to create a powerful legacy, gifting future generations a preserve of natural beauty while potentially benefiting from significant tax advantages.
Conservation and
Tax Benefits
This option is a favorite of many landowners who would like to receive the charitable benefits of the appraised full market value of their property. The North Georgia Land Trust can accept your property as a donation and keep it green and conserved forever…and that’s a long time.
Trade Land
Donation
If your land doesn’t meet the conservation value test for future greenspace, you still can donate the property to the North Georgia Land Trust for future sale. The proceeds will only be used to help further our mission to preserve and protect greenspace throughout our region and provide you with potential tax benefits.
Reserved Life
Estate
You may donate your home or land to the North Georgia Land Trust now and continue to live there through your lifetime. This offers significant tax benefits, including an immediate federal income tax deduction based on the present value of the remainder interest. The donor avoids capital gains taxes on the property’s appreciation, lowers the value of their taxable estate, and can continue using the home or farm for life. What a great way to give now and enjoy the continued use of your property
Conservation Agreement & Easement
A conservation easement is a voluntary, legal agreement between you and a land trust that permanently protects your land’s natural or agricultural value by restricting future development. The agreement is flexible. You can negotiate to keep specific rights, such as farming, ranching, hunting, or even building a limited number of future homes. You remain the owner of the land!
Retain
Ownership
A conservation agreement/easement allows you to lease your land, sell it, or pass it on to your heirs. Working with the North Georgia Land Trust, you can still enjoy your land for recreation, farming, or forestry while protecting its ecological value for your future heirs.
Tax
Benefits
As part of your conservation agreement/easement, you may receive significant savings through income tax deductions, reduced estate taxes, and yearly property tax relief.
Forever is a
Long Time
Your designated rights to the use of your land become part of your properties title. Meanwhile, the North Georgia Land Trust will monitor your land in accordance with your conservation agreement/easement wishes – forever.
Protecting Land
for Good
Your conservation agreement/easement will be appreciated by others, too. You are protecting your family legacy and protecting your land from intense future development while helping conserve clean air and water along with natural wildlife habitats – for the good of your community, forever.
Here’s how a conservation agreement/ easement works:
Tax Incentives
Donating land or a conservation easement to a land trust offers significant federal tax advantages by treating the gift as a charitable contribution.
Outright Land Donation
- Deduction: You can deduct the full Fair Market Value (FMV) of the property.
- Annual Cap: Deductions for “long-term” land (held over a year) are capped at 30% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).
- Carry-Forward: If the value exceeds the cap, you can carry the remaining balance forward for up to five additional years.
Conservation Easement Donation
- Deduction: You deduct the appraised value of the easement while retaining ownership of the land.
- Annual Cap: Generally capped at 50% of your AGI annually, or 100% for qualified farmers and ranchers.
- Carry-Forward: Remaining balances can be carried forward for up to 15 additional years, allowing for a 16-year total deduction window.
- Additional Benefits: Easements may also reduce estate taxes for heirs and lead to lower local property tax assessments.
To illustrate how these deductions work in practice, here are two mathematical examples based on a landowner with an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $100,000.
Example 1: Outright Land Donation
In this scenario, you donate a parcel of land valued at $250,000 that you have owned for more than one year.
- Annual Deduction Cap: 30% of your AGI ($100,000 × 0.30) = $30,000.
- Year 1 Deduction: You deduct $30,000 from your taxable income.
- Carry-Forward: You have 5 additional years to use the remaining $220,000.
- Total Potential Deduction: Over the 6-year period, you could deduct a total of $180,000 ($30,000 × 6 years), assuming your income stays the same.
- Result: $70,000 of the donation value would expire unused because it exceeds the 6-year limit.
Example 2: Conservation Easement Donation
In this scenario, you place an easement on your property. The restriction reduces the land’s value by $250,000, which becomes your charitable gift.
- Annual Deduction Cap: 50% of your AGI ($100,000 × 0.50) = $50,000.
- Year 1 Deduction: You deduct $50,000 from your taxable income.
- Carry-Forward: You have 15 additional years to use the remaining $200,000.
- Total Potential Deduction: You would fully utilize the $250,000 deduction in just 5 years ($50,000 × 5 years).
- Result: You realize the full tax benefit of the gift well within the 16-year eligibility period.
Note: If you were a qualified farmer or rancher in Example 2, your annual cap would increase to 100% of your AGI ($100,000), allowing you to deduct the full value in only 2.5 years.
Note: This information is not legal or tax advice; landowners should consult a professional advisor to evaluate their specific situation.