Republican tax plan 'includes major break for golf course owners'

'Conservation easement' most often used by farmers and other landowners to protect land for future generations

Donald Trump has reportedly used the conservation easement (REUTERS)

A version of the Republican tax bill reportedly contains a break allowing golf course owners to obtain millions of dollars in relief.

Under what are known as “conservation easements” course owners can write off a proportion of their income for tax purposes, in return for a promise not to build on the land.

Donald Trump has made use of such easements in the past, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The House version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act currently retains the easement for golf courses, Bloomberg reported.

It is used more often by farmers and others whose land is of conservation value, however.

An Obama-era proposal for discontinuing the deduction for golf courses alone suggested it could save the US tens of millions of dollars a year.

The House version of the bill passed through the Ways and Means committee on 9 November.

It must be reconciled with the Senate’s version before it makes its way to Mr Trump’s desk to be signed into law.

Mr Obama’s administration wanted to cut the easement in respect of golf clubs “because it viewed the policy’s costs in total as far exceeding the conservation benefits,” former US Treasury tax lawyer Ruth Madrigal told Bloomberg.