Couple Fails to Defeat Excessive Refund Claim Over Land Donation

A couple suing the government for more than $43.3 million in tax refunds related to three conservation easement deduction requests failed to defeat a counterclaim from the Department of Justice alleging their refund claims were excessive and without reasonable cause.

The US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia on Tuesday denied Tony and Elizabeth Townley’s motion for partial summary judgment on the DOJ’s excessive refund claim that could impose penalties. The court rejected the Townleys’ arguments that the provision imposing a penalty for excessive and unreasonable refunds violated the Petition Clause of the First Amendment, the DOJ lacked ...