MATERIAL UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES
The following is a summary of certain material United States federal income tax consequences relating to the purchase, ownership and disposition of notes as of the date hereof, and does not purport to be to be a complete analysis of all the potential tax consideration relating thereto. Except where noted, this summary deals only with notes that are held as capital assets (within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code (as defined below)) by a holder who acquired the notes upon original issuance at their “issue price,” which will equal the first price to the public (not including bond houses, brokers or similar persons or organizations acting in the capacity of underwriters, placement agents or wholesalers) at which a substantial amount of notes are sold for money.
For purposes of this summary, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of a note that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, is: (a) an individual citizen or resident of the United States; (b) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof (including the District of Columbia); (c) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or (d) a trust if (i) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the trust’s administration and one or more United States persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) such trust has a valid election in effect under applicable U.S. Treasury regulations to be treated as a United States person.
For purposes of this summary, a“Non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial owner of a note that is neither a U.S. Holder nor a partnership or any entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
If any entity or arrangement that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds the notes, the tax treatment of a partner will generally depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. If you are a partner of a partnership considering an investment in the notes, you should consult your tax advisors concerning the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of the notes.
This summary is based upon provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and regulations, rulings and judicial decisions as of the date hereof. Those authorities may be changed, perhaps retroactively, so as to result in United States federal income tax consequences different from those summarized below. We have not sought and do not intend to seek a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), on any aspect of these transactions. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that the IRS will agree with the views expressed in this summary, or that a court will not sustain any challenge to those views by the IRS in the event of litigation. This summary does not address all aspects of United States federal income taxes and does not deal with foreign, state, local or other tax considerations that may be relevant to holders of the notes in light of their particular circumstances. In addition, it does not represent a detailed description of the United States federal income tax consequences applicable to you if you are subject to special treatment under the United States federal income tax laws (including, for example, if you are a dealer in securities or currencies, a trader in securities that elects to use amark-to-market method of accounting for your securities holdings, a bank or other financial institution, a regulated investment company, a real estate investment trust, an employee stock ownership plan, a controlled foreign corporation, a foreign personal holding company, a passive foreign investment company, a pass-through entity (or a partner in a pass-through entity), a corporation that accumulates earnings to avoid tax, an insurance company, atax-exempt organization, a former citizen or resident of the United States, a person liable for the alternative minimum tax, a person that owns notes that are a hedge or that are hedged against interest rate or currency risks, a person that owns notes as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion, constructive sale or other integrated transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a person that purchases or sells notes as part of a wash sale for tax purposes, a U.S. Holder whose functional currency for tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar) or a person subject to special tax accounting rules under Section 451(b) of the Code applicable to persons that maintain certain specified financial statements. A change in law may alter significantly the tax considerations that we describe in this summary.
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