CERI Act of 2026

This bill would require the Treasury Secretary to set up a Conservation Easement Resolution Program within 180 days to settle tax disputes over syndicated conservation easement deductions claimed for contributions made before December 30, 2022. Until the program starts, the IRS could not open new disputes on these transactions, and certain penalties could not be imposed. For qualifying easements, the IRS could not assess taxes or penalties except in listed cases such as fraud or gross overvaluation, and for other easements that still largely serve conservation purposes, amounts owed would be cut by at least 80 percent. Taxpayers who already paid under past final rulings could receive refunds of the difference. The bill would also presume a taxpayer's qualified appraisal is accurate unless the IRS proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence, allow mineral development to count as a property's highest and best use in valuations, and require annual reports to Congress for five years.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Jack Bergman Republican sponsor
• 0 cosponsors