Need help on tax write-offs for donating land use with fruit trees to school agriculture program

This is a great question! What you're describing is likely considered a "partial interest donation" rather than a complete donation of property, which has specific tax implications. Since you want to retain ownership while allowing temporary use, you probably won't qualify for a charitable deduction for the value of the land itself. The IRS generally requires you to donate your entire interest in property to get a deduction. However, you may have other options: You could potentially set up a formal lease agreement with the school for $0 or a very nominal fee, then separately make a cash donation to the school. This keeps the transactions separate and might be cleaner from a tax perspective. Another option is to explore a "conservation easement" if the educational use qualifies, though this would be more permanent and requires specific legal structuring. The most straightforward approach might be to calculate the fair market value of the fruits/nuts they harvest and claim that as your donation. You'll need good documentation from the school about quantities harvested and market values. Whatever route you take, get everything in writing with the school and consult with a tax professional who specializes in charitable contributions!

I went through something similar with my farmland and discovered taxr.ai which completely changed how I approached the documentation. I have about 60 acres that I let a local college use for their agricultural program, and I was struggling with how to properly document everything for tax purposes. I uploaded my informal agreement to https://taxr.ai and got specific guidance on how to structure a proper donation agreement that would satisfy IRS requirements. They analyzed my situation and showed exactly what documentation I needed to maintain throughout the year to maximize my legitimate deductions. What I found most helpful was their explanation of "partial interest" donations and how to properly structure the arrangement to still get tax benefits without permanently giving up my land. Their AI reviewed everything and identified multiple deduction opportunities I was missing.

Just wanted to update everyone! I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here, and it was incredibly helpful for my situation. I have a small piece of land with mature avocado trees that I was letting a community college use. The service analyzed my informal arrangement and showed me exactly why it wouldn't qualify for a deduction as structured. They helped me create a formal agreement that separated the land use from my charitable contribution, plus gave me templates for tracking the value of harvests throughout the year. The best part was discovering I could deduct some maintenance expenses I didn't realize were eligible! Their document review caught several issues that would have been red flags for the IRS. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a similar situation with property you want to donate use of without transferring ownership.

If you're trying to contact the IRS to get clarity on this type of donation, good luck getting through to an actual person! I tried for weeks when setting up something similar with my timber property. After endless hours on hold, I finally used https://claimyr.com and got through to an IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent explained that what I needed was actually a qualified conservation contribution if I wanted to retain ownership while getting a deduction. This was completely different from what I had been planning! Getting direct answers from the IRS saved me from making a costly mistake on my return. Just sharing because trying to DIY this kind of specialized tax situation without proper guidance is risky, and actually reaching the IRS for clarification made all the difference for me.

I need to follow up on my earlier comment. I ended up trying Claimyr after continuing to fail getting through to the IRS on my own. I was honestly shocked when they connected me to an IRS agent in about 12 minutes when I'd previously waited 2+ hours multiple times. The agent I spoke with clarified that for my situation (letting a school use my land without transferring ownership), I needed to structure it as either a lease arrangement followed by a separate donation, or potentially as a qualified conservation easement depending on the exact nature of the agricultural use. Getting direct answers from the IRS about my specific situation saved me from making a serious mistake on my taxes. The agent even emailed me the specific publication sections that applied to my case. I'm still surprised at how well this worked after all my frustration trying to call myself.

Have you considered setting up a more formal arrangement like a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with the school? My brother did something similar where he: 1. Created a formal business entity for the orchard 2. Set up the CSA with the school as the primary customer 3. Then donated most of the profits back to the school This gave him business deductions for the orchard maintenance plus charitable deductions for the donations. His accountant said this was much cleaner from a tax perspective than trying to donate "use" of the property.

Just wanted to add - we did something similar with our maple syrup operation and the local school. Our tax guy set it up as an educational easement on the property, which gave us a one-time deduction for the easement value (which was substantial!), while still letting us own the property. It's more permanent than what you might want, but the tax benefits were significant upfront rather than spread over many years.