UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) February 10, 2015
Federal Realty Investment Trust
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Maryland | 1-07533 | 52-0782497 | ||
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) | (Commission File Number) | (IRS Employer Identification No.) | ||
1626 East Jefferson Street, Rockville, Maryland | 20852-4041 | |
(Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) | |
Registrant's telephone number including area code: 301/998-8100
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
o | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
o | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
o | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
o | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
Item 8.01. | Other Events. |
The information included in Exhibit 99.1 (the “Tax Exhibit”) to this Current Report on Form 8-K provides a summary of additional material federal income tax considerations relevant to an investment in equity securities of Federal Realty Investment Trust (the “Company”). The information in the Tax Exhibit amends in part the discussion under the heading “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations” contained in or incorporated by reference into prospectuses, and the discussion under the heading “Additional Material Federal Income Tax Considerations” contained in any prospectus supplement, filed by the Company under the Securities Act of 1933 prior to the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K, and the Tax Exhibit shall be deemed incorporated by reference into each such registration statement.
Item 9.01. | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) Exhibits.
99.1 Additional Material Federal Income Tax Considerations
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
FEDERAL REALTY INVESTMENT TRUST | ||||||
Date: February 10, 2016 | By: | /s/ Dawn M. Becker | ||||
Dawn M. Becker | ||||||
Executive Vice President-General Counsel and Secretary | ||||||
Exhibit 99.1
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS
The following is a summary of additional material federal income tax considerations with respect to our qualification as a REIT and the purchase, ownership, and disposition of our common or preferred shares. This discussion supplements and updates the discussions contained in the applicable prospectus under the heading “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations” and in any applicable prospectus supplement under the heading “Additional Material Federal Income Tax Considerations,” and supersedes such discussions to the extent inconsistent with such discussions. This discussion applies only to initial beneficial owners of our common or preferred shares who purchase their shares at their issue price (as defined below) and who hold the shares as capital assets (generally property held for investment) within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). This discussion is based on the Code, income tax regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial decisions, published positions of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and other applicable authorities, all as in effect as of the date hereof and all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect. This discussion is general in nature and is not exhaustive of all possible tax considerations, nor does the discussion address any state, local or foreign tax considerations or any U.S. tax considerations (e.g., estate generation-skipping or gift tax) other than U.S. federal income tax considerations, that may be applicable to particular shareholders. This discussion does not address all the tax consequences that may be relevant to a particular shareholder or to shareholders subject to special treatment under the Code, such as financial institutions, brokers, dealers in securities and commodities, insurance companies, certain former U.S. citizens or long-term residents, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, tax-exempt organizations, controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies, persons subject to the alternative minimum tax, U.S. persons whose functional currency is not the U.S. dollar, persons that are, or that hold their shares through, partnerships or other pass-through entities, or persons that hold shares as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion, synthetic security or constructive sale transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Except as specifically provided below with respect to Non-U.S. Holders (as defined in the applicable prospectus), the discussion is limited to beneficial owners of shares that are U.S. Holders. As supplemented and updated by this summary, and by the discussion in any applicable prospectus supplement, investors should review the discussion in the applicable prospectus under the heading “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations” for a more detailed summary of the federal income tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of our shares and our election to be subject to federal income tax as a REIT.
PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, FOREIGN AND OTHER TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR SHARES.
A. | Delayed Implementation Date for Withholding Taxes on Certain Foreign Accounts |
On September 18, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service issued a Notice with respect to the legislation discussed in “Material Federal Income Tax Considerations-Reporting and Withholding on Foreign Financial Accounts.” This Notice extended the date on which withholding begins for gross proceeds withholding from January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2019. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding all aspects of this legislation.
B. | Recent Legislation Modifying Several of the Rules Applicable to REITs |
On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, an omnibus spending bill, with a division referred to as the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the “PATH Act”). The PATH Act modified a number of important rules regarding the taxation of REITs and their shareholders, including, among others, the following rules described below. The rules in the PATH Act were enacted with different effective dates, some of which are retroactive. Prospective investors are urged to consult theirs tax advisors regarding the implications of the PATH Act.
Reduction in Built-in Gains Period. For taxable years beginning in 2015 and later, the “built-in gains” period (i.e., the period during which gains from the sale or disposition of property acquired by a REIT from a C corporation in a tax-free merger or other carryover basis transaction is subject to C corporation tax) is reduced from 10 years to 5 years.
Reduction in Permissible Holdings of the Securities of Taxable REIT Subsidiaries. For taxable years beginning after 2017, no more than 20% of the value of our total assets may consist of the securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries.
Prohibited Transaction Safe Harbor. Certain alternative tests for satisfying the rules contained in the safe harbor provisions, under which certain sales of real estate assets will not be treated as prohibited transactions, have been added by the PATH Act.
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TRS Operation of Foreclosure Property. For taxable years beginning after 2015, a taxable REIT subsidiary may operate property on which the REIT has made a foreclosure property election without loss of foreclosure property status.
Modification to Preferential Dividend Rules. For distributions in taxable years beginning after 2014, the preferential dividend rules do not apply to “publicly offered REITs” A “publicly offered REIT” means a REIT which is required to file annual and periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Exchange Act. The Company is a publicly offered REIT.
Limitations on Designation of Dividends by REITs. The aggregate amount of dividends that the Company may designate as qualified dividend income or as capital gain dividends with respect to any taxable year beginning after 2015 cannot exceed the dividends actually paid by us during such year.
Debt Instruments of Publicly Offered REITs and Mortgages Treated as Real Estate Assets. Debt instruments issued by publicly offered REITs (as defined above) will be treated as real estate assets for purposes of the 75% asset test. Income from such debt instruments is qualifying income for purposes of the 95% gross income test, but is not qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test. Under a new asset test, not more than 25% of the value of the Company's assets can consist of debt instruments of publicly offered REITs unless they would otherwise be treated as real estate assets. These provisions are effective for taxable years beginning after 2015.
Asset and Income Test Clarification Regarding Ancillary Personal Property. Under current law, rent attributable to personal property which is leased under, or in connection with, a lease of real property, is treated as rents from real property for purposes of the 95% and 75% gross income tests if the rent attributable to the personal property for the taxable year does not exceed 15% of the total rent for the year for such real and personal property. The PATH Act provides that, for taxable years beginning after 2015, personal property leased in connection with a lease of real property will be treated as a real estate asset for purposes of the 75% asset test to the extent that rents attributable to such personal property meets the 15% test described above. In addition, for taxable years beginning after 2015, debt secured by a mortgage on both real and personal property will qualify as a real estate asset for purposes of the 75% asset test, and interest on such debt will be qualifying income for purposes of both the 95% and 75% gross income tests, if the fair market value of the personal property does not exceed 15% of the total fair market value of all property securing the debt.
Hedging Provisions. For taxable years beginning after 2015, certain income from hedging transactions entered into to hedge existing hedging positions after any portion of the hedged indebtedness or property is disposed of will not be included in income for purposes of the 95% and 75% gross income tests.
Modification of REIT Earnings and Profits Calculation. The PATH Act modified the special earnings and profits rules in the Code to ensure that shareholders, for taxable years after 2015, will not be treated as receiving taxable dividends from a REIT that exceed the earnings and profits of the REIT.
Treatment of Certain Services Provided by Taxable REIT Subsidiaries. For taxable years beginning after 2015, a 100% excise tax is imposed on “redetermined TRS service income,” which is income of a taxable REIT subsidiary attributable to services provided to, or on behalf of, its associated REIT and which would otherwise be increased on distribution, apportionment, or allocation under the Code (i.e., as a result of a determination that the income was not arm's length), except to the extent income is attributable to services provided to a tenant (which were already subject to the 100% excise tax).
Exceptions from FIRPTA for Certain REIT Stock Gains and Distributions. On or after December 18, 2015, the disposition of stock of a publicly traded REIT is not treated, under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (“FIRPTA”), as a United States real property interest in the hands of a person who has not held more than 10% (increased from 5% under prior law) of the stock of such REIT during the applicable testing period. Similarly, on or after December 18, 2015, a distribution by a publicly traded REIT is not treated, under FIRPTA, as gain from the disposition of a United States real property interest for a person who has not held more than 10% (increased from 5% under prior law) of the stock of such REIT during the applicable testing period.
Stock of a REIT held (directly or through partnerships) by a “qualified shareholder” will not be a United States real property interest, and capital gain dividends from such a REIT will not be treated as gain from the sale of a United States real property interest, unless a person (other than a qualified shareholder) that holds an interest (other than an interest solely as a creditor) in such qualified shareholders owns, taking into account applicable constructive ownership rules, more than 10% of the stock of the REIT (an “applicable investor”). If the qualified shareholder has such an applicable investor, gains and REIT distributions allocable to the portion of REIT stock held by the qualified shareholder indirectly owned through the qualified shareholder by the applicable investor will be treated as gains from the sale of United States real property interests. For these
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purposes, a “qualified shareholder” is a foreign person which is in a treaty jurisdiction and satisfies certain publicly traded requirements, is a “qualified collective investment vehicle,” and maintains records on the identity of certain 5% owners. A “qualified collective investment vehicle” is a foreign person that is eligible for a reduced withholding rate with respect to ordinary REIT dividends even if such person holds more than 10% of the REIT's stock, a publicly traded partnership that is a withholding foreign partnership that would be a United States real property holding corporation if it were a United States corporation, or is designated as a qualified collective investment vehicle by the Secretary of the Treasury and is either fiscally transparent within the meaning of the Code or required to include dividends in its gross income but entitled to a deduction for distributions to its investors. Finally, capital gain dividends and non-dividend redemption and liquidating distributions to a qualified shareholder that are not allocable to an applicable investor will be treated as ordinary dividends. These changes apply to dispositions and distributions on or after December 18, 2015.
Determination of Domestically Controlled REIT Status. In determining whether a REIT is domestically controlled for purposes of the exception to FIRPTA for dispositions of domestically controlled REIT stock, the REIT may presume that holders of less than 5% of a class of stock regularly traded on an established securities market in the United States are U.S. persons throughout the testing period, except to the extent that the REIT has actual knowledge to the contrary. In addition, any stock in the REIT held by another REIT that is publicly traded will be treated as held by a non-U.S. person unless the other REIT is domestically controlled, in which case the stock will be treated as held by a U.S. person. Finally, any stock in a REIT held by another REIT that is not publicly traded will only be treated as held by a U.S. person to the extent that U.S. persons hold (or are treated as holding under the new rules) the other REIT’s stock. These provisions were effective as of December 18, 2015.
FIRPTA Exception for Interests Held by Foreign Retirement or Pension Funds. “Qualified foreign pension funds” and entities that are wholly owned by a qualified foreign pension fund are exempted from FIRPTA and FIRPTA withholding. For these purposes, a “qualified foreign pension fund” is any trust, corporation, or other organization or arrangement if (i) it was created or organized under foreign law, (ii) it was established to provide retirement or pension benefits to participants or beneficiaries that are current or former employees (or persons designated by such employees) of one or more employers in consideration for services rendered, (iii) it does not have a single participant or beneficiary with a right to more than 5% of its assets or income, (iv) it is subject to government regulation and provides annual information reporting about its beneficiaries to the relevant tax authorities in the country in which it is established or operates, and (v) under the laws of the country in which it is established or operates, either contributions to such fund which would otherwise be subject to tax under such laws are deductible or excluded from the gross income of such fund or taxed at a reduced rate, or taxation of any investment income of such fund is deferred or such income is taxed at a reduced rate. This provision is effective for dispositions and distributions occurring after December 18, 2015.
Increase in Rate of FIRPTA Withholding. For sales of United States real property interests occurring after February 16, 2016, the FIRPTA withholding rate for dispositions of United States real property interests and certain distributions increases from 10% to 15%.
C. | Recent Legislation May Alter Who Bears the Liability in the Event a Partnership is Audited and an Adjustment is Assessed |
On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. Among other things, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 changed the rules applicable to federal income tax audits of partnerships (including partnerships in which the Company is a partner) and the collection of any tax resulting from such audits or other tax proceedings. Under the new rules, the partnership itself must pay any “imputed underpayments,” consisting of delinquent taxes, interest, and penalties deemed to arise out of an audit of the partnership, unless certain alternative methods are available and the partnership elects to utilize them.
The new rule generally does not apply to audits of taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018, and many of the details, including the means by which a partnership can avail itself of the alternative methods and the manner in which the alternative methods may apply to REITs, will be determined through yet-to-be-proposed Treasury Regulations or other guidance. Therefore, it is not clear at this time what effect this new legislation will have on us or our partnerships. However, it is possible that in the future, we and/or any partnership in which we are a partner could be subject to, or otherwise bear the economic burden of, federal income tax, interest, and penalties resulting from a federal income tax audit as a result of the changes enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.
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