News - Local
Democrat Hickenlooper returned tax break to IRS
Posted: Sep 15, 2010 6:31 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Sep 15, 2010 6:33 AM
A Denver TV station is reporting that Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper paid over $52,000 to the Internal Revenue Service in 2008 to settle issues surrounding tax credits he received on conservation easements.
KMGH-TV reported Tuesday that the easements were on land that Hickenlooper and a partner acquired in 2000 through a land swap with the U.S. Forest Service. The station says documents provided by Hickenlooper show that he received more than $1.1 million in federal tax write-offs for the easements.
Hickenlooper defends an appraisal that significantly increased the property's value and says he's proud the land was preserved rather than developed. State tax credits for easements have been scrutinized after some appraisers were accused of inflating land values.
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