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Qualified Conservation Contribution: Charitable Deductions (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Qualified Conservation Contribution” within charitable deductions. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 526 (2025), Charitable Contributions, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these rules

Special rules apply if you contribute:

  • Clothing or household items;

  • A car, boat, or airplane;

  • Taxidermy property;

  • Property subject to a debt;

  • A partial interest in property;

  • A fractional interest in tangible personal property;

  • A qualified conservation contribution;

  • A future interest in tangible personal property;

  • Inventory from your business; or

  • A patent or other intellectual property.

These special rules are described next.

Qualified Conservation Contribution

A qualified conservation contribution is a contribution of a qualified real property interest to a qualified organization to be used only for conservation purposes.

Qualified organization.

For purposes of a qualified conservation contribution, a qualified organization is:

  • A governmental unit;

  • A publicly supported charity; or

  • An organization controlled by, and operated for the exclusive benefit of, a governmental unit or a publicly supported charity.

The organization must also have the resources to monitor and enforce the conservation easement or other conservation restrictions. To enable the organization to do this, it must have documents such as maps and photographs that establish the condition of the property at the time of donation.

A publicly supported charity is an organization of the type described in (1) under Types of Qualified Organizations, earlier, that normally receives a substantial part of its support, other than income from its exempt activities, from direct or indirect contributions from the general public or from governmental units.

Qualified real property interest.

This is any of the following interests in real property.

  1. Your entire interest in real estate other than a mineral interest (subsurface oil, gas, or other minerals, and the right of access to these minerals).

  2. A remainder interest.

  3. A restriction (granted in perpetuity) on the use that may be made of the real property, such as a conservation easement.

Conservation purposes.

Your contribution must be made only for one or more of the following conservation purposes.

  • Preserving land areas for outdoor recreation by, or for the education of, the general public.

  • Protecting a relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or a similar ecosystem.

  • Preserving open space, including farmland and forest land, if it yields a significant public benefit. The open space must be preserved either for the scenic enjoyment of the general public or under a clearly defined federal, state, or local governmental conservation policy.

  • Preserving a historically important land area or a certified historic structure.

Certified historic structure.

There are two types of buildings that may be certified historic structures: a National Register building and a historic district building. A National Register building and a historic district building can be certified by the Department of the Interior as a certified historic structure.

A National Register building is a building that is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places (“National Register”). If the building you’re claiming a deduction for is listed in the National Register as one building, no certification from the Department of the Interior is required, as it is already a certified historic structure. Alternatively, if the listing in the National Register consists of more than one building (for example, a house and a separate garage), certification is required to identify which building is the certified historic structure.

A historic district building is an individual building that is located in a registered historic district and has been separately certified by the Secretary of the Interior as a certified historic structure. The mere listing of the building as contributing to a registered historic district is not sufficient. A registered historic district is any district listed in the National Register. No deduction is available unless the National Register building or the historic district building is a certified historic structure.

Many of the requirements for a deduction on a National Register building and a historic district building are the same; however, there are additional requirements for a restriction on the exterior of a historic district building.

To claim a deduction for the donation of a restriction on all or part of the interior or exterior of a National Register building or all or part of the interior of a historic district building, you must include with your return:

  1. Form 8283, completed as specified in the Instructions for Form 8283;

  2. A signed qualified appraisal, performed by a qualified appraiser; and

  3. The National Park Service project number (NPS #), if applicable. See the instructions for Form 8283 for more information.

As previously mentioned, there are additional requirements for a restriction on the exterior of a historic district building. These additional requirements are:

  1. The restriction must preserve the entire exterior of the building (including its front, sides, rear, and height) and must prohibit any change to the exterior of the building that is inconsistent with its historical character;

  2. You and the organization receiving the contribution must enter into a written agreement certifying, under penalty of perjury, that the organization:

    1. Is a qualified organization with a purpose of environmental protection, land conservation, open space preservation, or historic preservation; and

    2. Has the resources to manage and enforce the restriction and a commitment to do so; and

  3. You must also include with your return:

    1. Photographs of the building’s entire exterior;

    2. A description of all restrictions on development of the building, such as zoning laws and restrictive covenants; and

    3. If the claimed donation exceeds $10,000, you must include a $500 filing fee and a Form 8283-V, Payment Voucher for Filing Fee Under Section 170(f)(13).

Rehabilitation credit.

If a rehabilitation credit was allowed on a National Register building or a historic district building for any of the 5 years before the year of the donation, your charitable deduction is reduced. For more information, see Form 3468, Investment Credit (and its instructions), and Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(14).

For more information on how an NPS # applies to a certified historic structure, see Easements on certified historic structures in the Instructions for Form 8283.

Disallowance of deductions for certain conservation contributions by partnerships and S corporations.

If you are an ultimate member of a partnership or an S corporation and the amount of the partnership or S corporation’s qualified conservation contribution exceeds 2.5 times the sum of each ultimate member’s relevant basis, the contribution is not treated as a qualified conservation contribution and no one may claim a deduction for the contribution (section 170(h)(7) disallowance rule). Thus, your charitable conservation contribution deduction is disallowed.

The term “ultimate member” means, with respect to any partnership or S corporation, any partner (that is not itself a partnership or S corporation) or S corporation shareholder that receives a distributive share or pro rata share, directly or indirectly (through one or more upper-tier partnerships or upper-tier S corporations), of a qualified conservation contribution.

Relevant basis is, with respect to any ultimate member, the portion of the ultimate member’s modified basis that is allocable to the portion of the real property with respect to which the qualified conservation contribution is made.

An upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation is a partnership or S corporation that does not itself make the contribution, but instead receives an allocated portion of a qualified conservation contribution from another partnership. The term “allocated portion” means a distributive share of a qualified conservation contribution made by a lower-tier partnership.

If the amount of a contributing partnership’s or contributing S corporation’s qualified conservation contribution exceeds 2.5 times the sum of each ultimate member’s relevant basis, the contribution is not treated as a qualified conservation contribution with respect to the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation, any upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation, or any ultimate member. No one may claim a deduction for the contribution. The amount of a contributing partnership’s or an S corporation’s qualified conservation contribution is generally the amount the partnership or S corporation claims as a qualified conservation contribution on its return.

If the amount of a contributing partnership’s or contributing S corporation’s qualified conservation contribution equals or is less than 2.5 times the sum of each ultimate member’s relevant basis, then any upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation must determine whether the section 170(h)(7) disallowance rule applies to its allocated portion of the qualified conservation contribution.

If an upper-tier partnership’s or upper-tier S corporation’s allocated portion exceeds 2.5 times the sum of each ultimate member’s relevant basis, the contribution is not treated as a qualified conservation contribution with respect to the upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation, any subsequent upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation, or any ultimate member. No one may claim a deduction for the allocated portion attributable to that upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation.

If an upper-tier partnership’s allocated portion does not exceed 2.5 times the sum of each ultimate member’s relevant basis, then any subsequent upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation must determine whether the section 170(h)(7) disallowance rule applies to its allocated portion.

The contributing partnership or contributing S corporation must determine each ultimate member’s relevant basis. That determination will require information from any upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation and may also require information from ultimate members.

See Regulations section 1.170A-14(j) through (n) for more details on the section 170(h)(7) disallowance rule, including guidance on the computation of modified basis and relevant basis.

Exceptions.

There are three exceptions to the section 170(h)(7) disallowance rule.

Exception 1—contribution outside 3-year rule period. The disallowance rule does not apply if the qualified conservation contribution is made at least 3 years after the latest of:

  1. The last date on which the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation acquired any portion of the real property with respect to which such qualified conservation contribution is made;

  2. The last date any partner in the contributing partnership or shareholder in the contributing S corporation acquired any interest in such partnership or S corporation; and

  3. If the interest in the contributing partnership is held through one or more upper-tier partnerships or upper-tier S corporations:

    1. The last date any such upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation acquired any interest in the contributing partnership or any other upper-tier partnership, and

    2. The last date on which any partner or shareholder in any such upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation acquired any interest in such upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation.

For the definition of “acquired,” see Regulations section 1.170A-14(n)(2).

The exception for the 3-year holding period is determined by the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation. If the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation satisfies the 3-year holding period, then the section 170(h)(7) disallowance rule does not apply to any upper-tier partnership, upper-tier S corporation, or ultimate member. However, if the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation does not satisfy the 3-year holding period, then the 3-year holding period exception does not apply to any upper-tier partnership, upper-tier S corporation, or ultimate member.

Exception 2—family pass-through entity. The disallowance rule does not apply to a qualified conservation contribution made by a family pass-through entity. A family pass-through entity is a partnership or S corporation in which 90% or more of the interests are held by an individual and members of the family of such individual. For these purposes, members of an individual’s family are the individual’s spouse and individuals described in section 152(d)(2)(A)–(G). Additionally, members of the family also include an estate of someone who was a member of the family and a trust where all beneficiaries (including those who would receive a portion of the trust if the trust were to terminate) are members of the family.

A partnership or S corporation does not qualify as a family pass-through entity unless the individual and members of the family held the property for at least 1 year prior to the qualified conservation contribution, unless the amount of the contribution is limited to basis under section 170(e).

If the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation qualifies as a family pass-through entity, then the disallowance rule does not apply to the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation, any upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation, or any ultimate member. However, if the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation does not qualify as a family pass-through entity, then the exception does not apply to the contributing partnership or contributing S corporation, any upper-tier partnership or upper-tier S corporation, or any ultimate member. See Regulations section 1.170A-14(n)(3) for additional guidance.

Exception 3—certified historic structure. The disallowance rule does not apply if the purpose of the qualified conservation contribution is the preservation of a certified historic structure. The contributing partnership, the contributing S corporation, the upper-tier partnership, or the upper-tier S corporation must include on its return, for the taxable year the contribution is made, a statement that the partnership or corporation made the contribution and the partnership or S corporation files a completed Form 8283, including the sum of each ultimate member’s relevant basis. See Certified historic structure earlier, Regulations section 1.170A-14(n)(4), and the Instructions for Form 8283 for more information.

Recordkeeping for the disallowance rule.

The disallowance rule requires contributing partnerships, contributing S corporations, upper-tier partnerships, and upper-tier S corporations to maintain dated, written statements in their books and records. These records must be created by the due dates—including extensions—of their federal income tax returns. The records must calculate the sum of each ultimate member’s adjusted basis, modified basis, and relevant basis.

These statements don’t need to be maintained (nor does the modified basis or relevant basis need to be calculated) for contributions that meet the 3-year holding period exception or the family pass-through entity exception. If the contribution also meets the certified historic structure exception, the statements mentioned earlier need to be maintained and the modified basis and relevant basis need to be calculated.

More information.

For information about determining the FMV of qualified conservation contributions, see Pub. 561 and the Instructions for Form 8283. For information about the limits that apply to deductions for this type of contribution, see Limits on Deductions, later. For more information about qualified conservation contributions, see Regulations section 1.170A-14.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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