IRS Increases Enforcement of Syndicated Conservation Easements - Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   IRS Increases Enforcement Action on Syndicated Conservation Easements NEWPORT BEACH November 18, 2019 -- While speaking at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) 2019 National Tax Conference in Washington, D.C., IRS Commissioner, Rettig, and IRS Chief Counsel, Desmond, both separately underscored the IRS’s increased enforcement efforts toward abuses of certain tax-advantaged land transactions under Code Sec. 170(h).. Rettig stated that the IRS appreciates the value of conservation easements, but it does not appreciate the activities that have gone on with respect to the syndicated conservation easements -- there are some artificial appraisals there… some fatal flaws. Rettig, reiterating the IRS’s tough stance on the matter, as noted in IRS press release dated November 12, said that the IRS is not going to "stand down." The information issued in the November 12 news release was "fair warning," Rettig said. Likewise, IRS Chief Counsel, Desmond, stressed that the challenges surrounding syndicated conservation easements are an "institutional concern" for the IRS... "one that we will be responding to," Desmond emphasized. The related increase in audits and investigations cover billions of dollars of potentially inflated deductions as well as hundreds of partnerships and thousands of investors, according to the IRS. "We will not stop in our pursuit o