In IR-2026-65 (5/12/26), here, the IRS announced a new time-limited settlement initiative for bullshit conservation easements with bullshit (maybe redundant) claims for charitable deductions. Given that the claimed deductions were always bullshit, those at risk should (in my opinion) take the offer if they are otherwise eligible to do so. I won’t go through the eligibility requirements; those interested in those requirements should consult with counsel who, if competent, should be capable of assessing the high risk of not accepting. I will say that, for the taxpayers targeted, this is an extremely generous offer.
That is to say that, if I had been a Government (IRS or DOJ) attorney litigating one of these cases, there is no way the taxpayers in those cases would have gotten such a settlement offer from me; my opposing counsel when I was a DOJ Tax litigator knew that I did not make settlement offers (I told opposing counsel early on just to be sure they were aware); I recommended acceptance of taxpayer settlement offers only rarely (including one that conceded everything, including a civil fraud penalty that I caused the IRS to assert, but wanted the concession styled as a settlement; I even balked at the description of a complete concession as a “settlement” but finally recommended acceptance of the full concession “settlement” offer). In some rare cases, I did dicker with opposing counsel regard their offers, but we just did not have the same view of the taxpayer winning the case. Even in those cases I lost after receiving a settlement offer I rejected (or DOJ Tax rejected based on my recommendation), I never thought that in retrospect I should have recommended acceptance of the offer. You win some; you lose some.
For those considering whether to settle for the current offer, I strongly recommend that taxpayers and their counsel consider the risk of promoting bullshit valuations wasting valuable court, party, witness (including experts) resources, etc. (Wasted resources would include jury resources in those having the brass (aka balls) to try the case to a jury which has collectively a lot of common sense enabling them to recognize bullshit when as egregious as the claimed valuations. Tax Court Rejects a Bullshit Tax Shelter False Valuation Claim with Warning of Sanctions for Taxpayers, their Counsel, and Expert Witness Proffering the Bullshit (Federal Tax Procedure Blog 7/16/25; 9/10/25), here.
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