A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to enhance donations by corporate entities of distressed properties with conservation values.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 105‑130.29(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Any C Corporation that makes a qualified donation of an interest in real property located in North Carolina during the taxable year that is useful for (i) public beach access or use, (ii) public access to public waters or trails, (iii) fish and wildlife conservation, (iv) forestland or farmland conservation, (v) watershed protection, (vi) conservation of natural areas as that term is defined in G.S. 113A‑164.3(3), (vii) conservation of natural or scenic river areas as those terms are used in G.S. 113A‑34, (viii) conservation of predominantly natural parkland, or (ix) historic landscape conservation is allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this Part equal to twenty‑five percent (25%) of the fair market value of the donated property interest. To be eligible for this credit, the interest in real property must be donated in perpetuity for one of the qualifying uses listed in this subsection and accepted in perpetuity for the qualifying use for which the property is donated. The person to whom the property is donated must be the State, a local government, or a body that is both organized to receive and administer lands for conservation purposes and qualified to receive charitable contributions pursuant to G.S. 105‑130.9. Lands required to be dedicated pursuant to local governmental regulation or ordinance and dedications made to increase building density levels permitted under a regulation or ordinance are not eligible for this credit.
The credit allowed under this section for one or more qualified donations made in a taxable year may not exceed two million dollars ($2,000,000). To support the credit allowed by this section, the taxpayer must file with the income tax return for the taxable year in which the credit is claimed the following:
(1)	A certification by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that the property donated is suitable for one or more of the valid public benefits set forth in this subsection.
(2)	A self‑contained appraisal report or summary appraisal report as defined in Standards Rule 2‑2 in the latest edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice as promulgated by the Appraisal Foundation for the property. For fee simple absolute donations of real property, a taxpayer may submit documentation of the county's appraised value of the donated property, as adjusted by the sales assessment ratio, in lieu of an appraisal report."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 105‑130.34(a), as rewritten by Section 1 of this act, reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Any C Corporation that makes a qualified donation of an interest in real property located in North Carolina during the taxable year that is useful for (i) public beach access or use, (ii) public access to public waters or trails, (iii) fish and wildlife conservation, (iv) forestland or farmland conservation, (v) watershed protection, (vi) conservation of natural areas as that term is defined in G.S. 113A‑164.3(3), (vii) conservation of natural or scenic river areas as those terms are used in G.S. 113A‑34, (viii) conservation of predominantly natural parkland, or (ix) historic landscape conservation is allowed a credit against the tax imposed by this Part equal to twenty‑five percent (25%) of the fair market value of the donated property interest. To be eligible for this credit, the interest in real property must be donated in perpetuity for one of the qualifying uses listed in this subsection and accepted in perpetuity for the qualifying use for which the property is donated. The person to whom the property is donated must be the State, a local government, or a body that is both organized to receive and administer lands for conservation purposes and qualified to receive charitable contributions pursuant to G.S. 105‑130.9. Lands required to be dedicated pursuant to local governmental regulation or ordinance and dedications made to increase building density levels permitted under a regulation or ordinance are not eligible for this credit.
The credit allowed under this section for one or more qualified donations made in a taxable year may not exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). To support the credit allowed by this section, the taxpayer must file with the income tax return for the taxable year in which the credit is claimed the following:
(1)	A certification by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that the property donated is suitable for one or more of the valid public benefits set forth in this subsection.
(2)	A self‑contained appraisal report or summary appraisal report as defined in Standards Rule 2‑2 in the latest edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice as promulgated by the Appraisal Foundation for the property. For fee simple absolute donations of real property, a taxpayer may submit documentation of the county's appraised value of the donated property, as adjusted by the sales assessment ratio, in lieu of an appraisal report."
SECTION 3.  Section 2 of this act is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2013.  The remainder of this act is effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2011.