Tax Question: Charitable donation to fire dept. if house was going to be torn down anyway?

[Cheryl C.]

Years ago, I read that you could donate a house (structure only) to the fire department to practice on, wrecking it in the process. The charitable donation was the value of the structure. I believe that I read that the IRS is no longer allowing these "donations" because the taxpayor was going to knock the house down anyway. Any of you all have info on this?

[Keith Barton]

As I'm sure you can imagine, the IRS tends to view things in generalities and with a critical eye: if there is a trend for people to take a structure they don't want on a property, let a fire department burn the structure for training (and thereby have the structure removed without paying demo costs), then claim it as a charitable contribution - that doesn't sit well with the overseers. It wouldn't surprise me if somewhere along the way some auditor not only disallowed the deduction but also tried to argue that the avoided demo costs should be imputed as taxable income!