shares of common stock that are intended to assist us in satisfying the share ownership requirements described in conditions (5) and (6) above. These restrictions, however, may not ensure that we will be able to satisfy these share ownership requirements.
To monitor its compliance with condition (6) above, a REIT is required to send annual letters to its stockholders requesting information regarding the actual ownership of its shares. If we comply with the annual letters requirement and we do not know or, exercising reasonable diligence, would not have known of our failure to meet condition (6) above, then we will be treated as having met condition (6) above. Failure to comply with such requirements could subject us to monetary penalties.
For purposes of condition (8) above, we will use a calendar year for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and we intend to comply with the applicable recordkeeping requirements.
Lamar’sNon-REIT Accumulated Earnings and Profits. A REIT may not have at the end of any taxable year any undistributed earnings and profits that are attributable to anon-REIT taxable year. Thus, in order to qualify as a REIT, we were required to distribute to our stockholders all of our undistributed earnings and profits accumulated through the end of 2013, prior to the end of our first REIT taxable year.
We retained accountants to compute the amount of our accumulated E&P through December 31, 2013. Based on these calculations and projections, we believe that we had no more than $40 million in accumulated E&P as of December 31, 2013. We distributed this amount in full to our stockholders by the December 31, 2014 deadline. However, there can be no assurance that the IRS would not, upon subsequent examination, propose adjustments to our calculation of the undistributed earnings and profits. If it is subsequently determined that we had undistributed earnings and profits as of the end of our first taxable year as a REIT, we may be eligible for a relief provision similar to the “deficiency dividends” procedure described below. To utilize this relief provision, we would have to pay an interest charge for the delay in distributing thenon-REIT accumulated E&P; in addition, we would be required to distribute to our stockholders, in addition to our other REIT distribution requirements, the amount of thenon-REIT accumulated E&P less the interest charge paid.
Acquisitions of “C” Corporations. If we acquire a corporation, liquidate a TRS or convert a TRS to a QRS, to preserve our status as a REIT we must generally distribute all of thenon-REIT accumulated E&P inherited in that transaction, if any, not later than the end of the taxable year in which the transaction occurred. The distribution of suchnon-REIT accumulated E&P may be eligible for taxation to noncorporate U.S. stockholders at the maximum 23.8% “qualified dividend” rate.
Qualified REIT Subsidiaries. If a REIT owns a corporate subsidiary that is a qualified REIT subsidiary (“QRS”), the separate existence of that subsidiary will be disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Generally, a QRS is a corporation, other than a TRS (discussed below), all of the stock of which is owned by the REIT. All assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of the QRS will be treated as assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of the REIT itself. A QRS will not be subject to federal corporate income taxation, although it may be subject to state and local taxation in some states.
Subsidiary REITs. Although we do not expect to own interests in other REITs, we may find it necessary or advantageous in the future to do so. If any REIT in which we hold an interest fails to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year, that failure could, depending on the circumstances, adversely affect our ability to satisfy the various asset and gross income requirements applicable to REITs, including the requirement that REITs generally may not own, directly or indirectly, more than 10% of the securities of another corporation that is not a REIT or a TRS, as further described below.
Other Disregarded Entities and Partners.An unincorporated domestic entity, such as a partnership or limited liability company that has a single owner, generally is not treated as an entity separate from its parent for federal income tax purposes. An unincorporated domestic entity with two or more owners is generally treated as a
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