[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1486 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1486

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage qualified 
conservation contributions by allowing an estate tax deduction for such 
             contributions made by the heirs of the estate.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 4, 2001

 Ms. Lofgren (for herself, Mr. Honda, and Mr. Price of North Carolina) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to encourage qualified 
conservation contributions by allowing an estate tax deduction for such 
             contributions made by the heirs of the estate.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. CERTAIN GIFTS BY HEIRS OF DECEDENT ALLOWED AS DEDUCTION IN 
              DETERMINING TAXABLE ESTATE OF DECEDENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 2055 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to transfers for public, charitable, and religious uses) is 
amended by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h) and by 
inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Certain Gifts by Heirs of Decedent Allowed as Deduction.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the case of real property acquired 
        from or passed from a decedent, if each person in being who has 
        an interest (whether or not in possession) in such property 
        files, with the return of tax imposed by this chapter on such 
        decedent--
                    ``(A) a signed statement indicating such person's 
                intent to make (within a reasonable period) a 
                contribution of such property (or a remainder interest 
                therein) to a qualified organization (as defined in 
                section 170(h)(3)) exclusively for conservation 
                purposes (as defined in section 170(h)(4)), and
                    ``(B) an election to have this subsection apply to 
                such property (or interest),
        such contribution shall be treated for purposes of this title 
        as having been made as a bequest or devise directly from the 
        estate of such decedent.
            ``(2) Return must be timely filed.--Paragraph (1) shall not 
        apply unless the return is filed on or before the due date 
        (including extensions).
            ``(3) Statute of limitations open until after contribution 
        is made.--If any person elects to have this subsection apply to 
        any property, then--
                    ``(A) the statutory period for the assessment of 
                any deficiency attributable to such property shall not 
                expire before the expiration of 3 years from the date 
                the Secretary is notified by such person (in such 
                manner as the Secretary may prescribe) of--
                            ``(i) the transfer of such property in a 
                        contribution described in paragraph (1)(A), or
                            ``(ii) such person's intention not to make 
                        such a transfer, and
                    ``(B) such deficiency may be assessed before the 
                expiration of such 3-year period notwithstanding the 
                provisions of any other law or rule of law which would 
                otherwise prevent such assessment.
            ``(4) Modifications.--Rules similar to the rules which 
        apply under section 2032A(d)(3) shall apply for purposes of 
        this subsection.''
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in the amendments made by section 508 of the 
Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. The heirs of all estates subject to such 
section 508 for which an estate tax return was timely filed by the due 
date (including extensions) shall have 1 year from the date of 
enactment of this Act to comply with the requirements of section 
2055(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by this section.
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