The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed with decisions in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits and has held that the grant of a conservation easement is not eligible for a charitable contribution deduction when the underlying property is subject to a mortgage that has not been subordinated to the easement.  As a result, RP Golf, LLC, the owner of two private golf clubs in Missouri, has lost its claim for a $16.4 million deduction.

A donor’s right to direct title of an historic theater to an organization other than the 501(c)(3) charitable recipient of a bargain sale invalidates the gift and is grounds to deny a claim for a $3 million charitable contribution deduction, the Tax Court has held.

The Supreme Court has ended years of confusion among religious organizations by ruling that an employee pension plan established by religiously affiliated organizations is considered a “church plan” and not covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  Several Courts of Appeals had previously ruled that such plans would be subject to more protective ERISA requirements if not established directly by a church.  (See Nonprofit Issues, March 2016.) 

The Supreme Court, by a 7-2 vote, has held that Missouri may not prohibit a church from applying for a grant to improve its school playground simply because it is a church organization.  The policy violates the “Free Exercise” clause of the First Amendment, the Court has said.