STEVE MOORE: The IRS went after honest landowners. It's time to end this tax nightmare

The IRS recently did something federal agencies almost never do: admit their approach wasn’t working.They conceded that the approach to the Conservation Easement program tax assessments is flawed and often unfair.In a press release last month, the IRS rightly stopped its assault — at least for now — on more than a thousand separate groups nationwide, comprised of about 250,000 individuals, who have participated in land conservation easements.The agency decided to withdraw its own arbitrary deadlines under its punitive settlement initiative for these donations that taxpayers, relying on qualified appraisals and professional advice, believed complied with federal law.STEVE MOORE: THE IRS BECAME JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER IN A TAX-CODE WITCH HUNT AGAINST AMERICANSThis longstanding program provides tax incentives for people who have put hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine forest, ranch, and farmland into a "conservation easement" — preventing it from ever being developed.

Despite some of its flaws, including fraudulent property assessments, the program has long been supported by Republicans and Democrats.The IRS made a concession that standardized, one-size-fits-all settlement offers "are not well suited to the full range of conservation easement cases." But it didn’t stop there.The creation of the new Office of Conservation Easements was also announced — giving hope to many that the wrongs of the past will finally be addressed in a deliberate, fair manner.One of this administration’s best, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, deserves credit for his willingness to take a pause, look closer at these complex cases, and potentially implement corrective action to address serious questions about a law that has been around for decades.

This was not an easy move to make, but it is the right one.For decades, more than a quarter of a million American taxpayers have preserved pristine land and prevented development through legal conservation easement donatio...