“Letting the fire department torch your house doesn’t qualify for a write off,”

the Tax Court says to a couple who allowed their local fire department to burn down the home on property they had just bought. After the training exercise, the couple built a custom home on the parcel.   A majority of the Tax Court’s judges agreed that the couple had given the fire department a license only to use the property, which precludes claiming any tax deduction for the donation. While several judges would have treated the donation as eligible for a deduction, the couple would still have had to prove the value of the gift exceeded the value of the demolition services in order to deduct anything. That’s a tough hurdle to meet.