You did not abandon your interest. It was effectively "sold" with no proceeds. The abandonment of a partnership interest is a highly scrutinized area for the IRS. Additionally, to take a loss for abandonment of a partnership interest, a taxpayer must show that in the year the loss deduction was claimed, the taxpayer intended to abandon the partnership interest and that there was an affirmative act of abandonment of the interest.
The abandonment of leasehold improvements by the partnership is not correlated to a taxpayer making a claim for an abandonment of their partnership interest.
The reason for the high scrutiny by the IRS is that there is a significant character difference in how the loss is treated; capital versus ordinary and that is why you could see a difference in the tax impact.
*A reminder that posts in a forum such as this do not constitute tax advice.
Also keep in mind the date of replies, as tax law changes.
