The Best of Both Worlds: Do Below Market Leases Or Sales After Eminent Domain Create a Taxable Accession to Wealth‪?‬

INTRODUCTION In June, 2005, the Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London (2) upheld the taking of property by eminent domain for the furtherance of economic development. Under the plan originally approved by the City of New London, Connecticut, land taken by eminent domain would be divided into seven parcels of land. Some parcels would be subdivided, developed and re-sold, and while litigation was pending before the Supreme Court, the New London Development Corporation ("NLDC") was negotiating a lease on other parcels to be developed in accordance with the development plan, at the rate of $1/year for 99 years. Justice Thomas, voicing one of the dissenting opinions, demonstrates the historical trend toward more frequent eminent domain foreclosures for broader reasons. The court however, did not address an ancillary but possibly material tax consequence: if a private party then subsequently receives a lease or ownership interest of land from a local or state government at less than fair market value, do they incur accession to wealth under either Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") or the Internal Revenue Code?