Opinion
12101-19
06-01-2022
NORTH BY NORTHWEST VII, LLC, NORTHWEST VII INVESTMENTS, LLC, TAX MATTERS PARTNER, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
Elizabeth Crewson Paris, Judge
This case involves respondent's disallowance of petitioner's 2015 conservation easement as not being a qualified conservation easement under section 170(h). On April 8, 2020, at docket entry 24, respondent filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the grounds that petitioner's conservation easement deed fails to meet the perpetuity requirements of section 170(h)(5)(A), and Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-14(g)(6). On July 2, 2020, at docket entry 40, petitioner filed a Response in Opposition to Respondent's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment asserting nine different grounds, including that Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-14(g)(6)(ii) is invalid.
Unless otherwise indicated, all statutory references are to the Internal Revenue Code, Title 26 U.S.C., in effect at all relevant times, all regulation references are to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 26 (Treas. Reg.), in effect at all relevant times, and all Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.
On June 17, 2020, this Court released its opinion in Hewitt v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-89. Hewitt addressed many of the issues raised in this case, including the procedural and substantive validity and proper interpretation of Treasury Regulation § 1.170A-14(g)(6)(ii). On September 15, 2020, petitioners in Hewitt filed their Notice of Appeal of the Tax Court's decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In the present case, the property subject to the conservation easement is located wholly in the state of West Virginia and significant state property law questions may exist. But the parties have filed a First Stipulation of Facts, and at paragraph 2 therein, the parties have stipulated that the partnership at issue, North by Northwest VII, LLC, has a principal place of business in the state of Georgia, rendering Hewitt relevant. § 7482(b).
On March 1, 2021, at docket entry 61, petitioner filed an unopposed motion, pursuant to Rule 50, requesting the Court to stay (1) the resolution of respondent's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, filed April 8, 2020; and (2) discovery related to that motion, pending a decision of the Eleventh Circuit in Hewitt.
On March 18, 2021, at docket entry 62, the Court granted petitioner's unopposed motion and thereafter has held respondent's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and discovery related to that motion in abeyance.
On February 15, 2022, respondent filed a Notice of Supplemental Authority informing the Court that, on December 29, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion in the above-described Hewitt matter. 21 F.4th 1336, rev'g and remanding T.C. Memo. 2020-89.
On the basis of the foregoing, it is
ORDERED that the Order entered March 18, 2021, at docket entry 62, granting petitioner's Motion to Stay Proceedings on respondent's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, pursuant to Rule 50, has been satisfied and, thus, that respondent's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, filed on April 8, 2020, at docket entry 24, and discovery related to that motion, is no longer held in abeyance.