AMH-E American Homes 4 Rent

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following is a general discussion of the material U.S. federal income tax considerations relating to our qualification and taxation as a REIT, and the acquisition, holding, and disposition of our Class A common shares, preferred shares, and depositary shares (together with our common shares and preferred shares, the “shares”), as well as our warrants and rights. A summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations to you as a prospective holder of a particular series of our operating partnership’s debt securities will be included in the applicable prospectus supplement. For purposes of the following discussion, references to “our Company,” “the Company,” “we,” and “us” mean only American Homes 4 Rent and not its subsidiaries or affiliates. This discussion is based upon the Code, the U.S. Treasury Regulations, rulings and other administrative interpretations and practices of the IRS (including administrative interpretations and practices expressed in private letter rulings which are binding on the IRS only with respect to the particular taxpayers who requested and received those rulings), and judicial decisions, all as currently in effect, and all of which are subject to differing interpretations or to change, possibly with retroactive effect. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert, or that a court would not sustain, a position contrary to any of the tax consequences described below. We have not sought and will not seek an advance ruling from the IRS regarding any matter discussed in this section. The discussion is also based upon the assumption that we will operate the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliated entities in accordance with their applicable organizational documents. This discussion is for general information only, and does not purport to discuss all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be important to a particular investor in light of its investment or tax circumstances, or to investors subject to special tax rules, including:

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For purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. shareholder” means a beneficial owner of shares that is:

If a partnership (or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds shares, the tax treatment of a partner in the partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Any partnership or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and the partners in such partnership (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes), should consult their tax advisors.

This discussion of material U.S. federal income tax considerations is not binding on the IRS. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert, or that a court would not sustain, a position contrary to any described herein.

THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX RULES APPLICABLE TO HOLDING AND DISPOSING SHARES, AND TO REITS GENERALLY, ARE HIGHLY TECHNICAL AND COMPLEX. HOLDERS OF SHARES ARE URGED TO CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE SPECIFIC TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF THE OWNERSHIP OF SHARES, AND THE COMPANY’S QUALIFICATION AS A REIT, INCLUDING THE APPLICABILITY AND EFFECT OF U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME AND OTHER TAX LAWS, AND POTENTIAL CHANGES IN APPLICABLE TAX LAWS, IN LIGHT OF THEIR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.

The U.S. federal income tax treatment of holders of our shares depends in some instances on determinations of fact and interpretations of complex provisions of U.S. federal income tax law for which no clear precedent or authority is available. In addition, the tax consequences to any particular shareholder of holding our shares will depend on the shareholder’s particular tax circumstances. You should consult your tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income and other tax consequences to you in light of your particular investment or tax circumstances of acquiring, holding, exchanging, or otherwise disposing of our shares, our election to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and potential changes in applicable law.

Taxation of the Company as a REIT

General

We elected to be taxed as a REIT commencing with our first taxable year ended December 31, 2012. A REIT generally is not subject to U.S. federal income tax on the income that it distributes to shareholders provided that the REIT meets the applicable REIT distribution requirements and other requirements for qualification as a REIT under the Code. We believe that we have been organized and operated in a manner so as to satisfy the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code, and we intend to continue to be organized and operated in a manner that will allow us to continue to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code.

Qualification and taxation as a REIT depends upon our ability to meet the various qualification tests imposed under the Code, including through our actual annual (or in some cases quarterly) operating results, requirements relating to income, asset ownership, distribution levels and diversity of share ownership, and the various other REIT qualification requirements imposed under the Code. Given the complex nature of the REIT qualification requirements, the ongoing importance of factual determinations and the possibility of future changes in our circumstances, we cannot provide any assurances that we have been or will be organized or operated in a manner so as to satisfy the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code, or that we will meet in the future the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT. See “—Failure to Qualify as a REIT.”

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The sections of the Code that relate to our qualification and operation as a REIT are highly technical and complex. This discussion sets forth the material aspects of the sections of the Code that govern the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a REIT and its shareholders.

Taxation

For each taxable year in which we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on our “REIT taxable income” (generally, taxable income subject to specified adjustments, including a deduction for dividends paid and excluding our net capital gain) that is distributed currently to our shareholders. This treatment substantially eliminates the “double taxation” at the corporate and shareholder levels that generally results from an investment in a non-REIT “C” corporation. A non-REIT “C” corporation is a corporation that generally is required to pay tax at the corporate level. Double taxation means taxation once at the corporate level when the income is earned and once again at the shareholder level when the income is distributed. In general, the income that we generate is taxed only at the shareholder level upon a distribution of dividends to our shareholders.

U.S. shareholders generally will be subject to taxation on dividends distributed by us (other than designated capital gain dividends and “qualified dividend income”) at rates applicable to ordinary income, instead of at lower capital gain rates. For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, generally, U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts or estates may deduct 20% of the aggregate amount of ordinary dividends distributed by us, subject to certain limitations. Capital gain dividends and qualified dividend income will continue to be subject to a maximum 20% rate.

Any net operating losses, foreign tax credits and other tax attributes of a REIT generally do not pass through to our shareholders, subject to special rules for certain items such as the capital gains that we recognize.

Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax in the following circumstances:

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Notwithstanding our qualification as a REIT, we and our subsidiaries may be subject to a variety of taxes, including payroll taxes and state, local, and foreign income, property and other taxes on our assets, operations and/or net worth. We could also be subject to tax in situations and on transactions not presently contemplated.

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Requirements for Qualification as a REIT

The Code defines a “REIT” as a corporation, trust or association:

The Code provides that conditions (1), (2), (3) and (4) above must be met during the entire taxable year and condition (5) above must be met during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months, or during a proportionate part of a taxable year of less than 12 months. Condition (6) must be met during the last half of each taxable year. For purposes of determining share ownership under condition (6) above, a supplemental unemployment compensation benefits plan, a private foundation or a portion of a trust permanently set aside or used exclusively for charitable purposes generally is considered an individual. However, a trust that is a qualified trust under Code Section 401(a) generally is not considered an individual, and beneficiaries of a qualified trust are treated as holding shares of a REIT in proportion to their actuarial interests in the trust for purposes of condition (6) above. If we fail to satisfy these share ownership requirements, we will fail to qualify as a REIT unless we qualify for certain relief provisions described in the following paragraph.

To monitor our compliance with condition (6) above, we are generally required to maintain records regarding the actual ownership of our shares. To do so, we must demand written statements each year from the record holders of certain specified percentages of our shares pursuant to which the record holders must disclose the actual owners of the shares (i.e., the persons required to include in gross income the dividends paid by us). We must maintain a list of those persons failing or refusing to comply with this demand as part of our records. We could be subject to monetary penalties if we fail to comply with these record-keeping requirements. A shareholder that fails or refuses to comply with the demand is required by Treasury Regulations to submit a statement with its tax return disclosing the actual ownership of our shares and other information. If we comply with the record-keeping 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.

For purposes of condition (8), we adopted December 31 as our year end, and thereby satisfy this requirement.

Effect of Subsidiary Entities

Ownership of Interests in Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies. In the case of a REIT which is a partner in a partnership or a member in a limited liability company treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax

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purposes, Treasury Regulations provide that the REIT will be deemed to own its pro rata share of the assets of the partnership or limited liability company, as the case may be, based on its capital interest in such partnership or limited liability company. Also, the REIT will be deemed to be entitled to the income of the partnership or limited liability company attributable to its pro rata share of the assets of that entity. The assets and gross income of the partnership or limited liability company retain the same character in the hands of the REIT for purposes of Section 856 of the Code, including satisfying the gross income tests and the asset tests. Thus, our pro rata share of the assets and items of income of our operating partnership, including our operating partnership’s share of these items of any partnership or limited liability company in which our operating partnership owns an interest, are treated as our assets and items of income for purposes of applying the requirements described in this prospectus, including the income and asset tests described below.

We have included a brief summary of the rules governing the U.S. federal income taxation of partnerships and limited liability companies and their partners or members below in “—Tax Aspects of Our Ownership of Interests in our Operating Partnership and other Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies.” We believe that we have operated and we intend to continue to operate our operating partnership and the subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies in which our operating partnership invests in a manner consistent with the requirements for our qualification and taxation as a REIT. We have interests in several joint ventures in which we are a non-managing member in a limited liability company. In the future, we may be a limited partner or non-managing member in some of our partnerships and limited liability companies. If such a partnership or limited liability company were to take actions which could jeopardize our qualification as a REIT or require us to pay tax, we may be forced to dispose of our interest in such entity. In addition, it is possible that a partnership or limited liability company could take an action which could cause us to fail a REIT income or asset test, and that we would not become aware of such action in a time frame that would allow us to dispose of our interest in the partnership or limited liability company or take other corrective action on a timely basis. In that case, we could fail to qualify as a REIT unless entitled to relief, as described below.

Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, liability is imposed on the partnership (rather than its partners) for adjustments to reported partnership taxable income resulting from audits or other tax proceedings. The liability can include an imputed underpayment of tax, calculated by using the highest marginal U.S. federal income tax rate, as well as interest and penalties on such imputed underpayment of tax. Using certain rules, partnerships may be able to transfer these liabilities to their partners. In the event any adjustments are imposed by the IRS on the taxable income reported by any subsidiary partnerships, we intend to utilize certain rules to the extent possible to allow us to transfer any liability with respect to such adjustments to the partners of the subsidiary partnerships who should properly bear such liability. However, there is no assurance that we will qualify under those rules or that we will have the authority to use those rules under the operating agreements for certain of our subsidiary partnerships.

Ownership of Interests in Qualified REIT Subsidiaries. We may own 100% of the stock of one or more corporations that are qualified REIT subsidiaries. We currently do not have any qualified REIT subsidiaries. A corporation will qualify as a qualified REIT subsidiary if we own 100% of its stock and it is not a taxable REIT subsidiary. A qualified REIT subsidiary will not be treated as a separate corporation, and all assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of a qualified REIT subsidiary will be treated as our assets, liabilities and such items (as the case may be) for all purposes of the Code, including the REIT qualification tests. For this reason, references in this discussion to our income and assets should be understood to include the income and assets of any qualified REIT subsidiary we own. Our ownership of the voting stock of a qualified REIT subsidiary will not violate the restrictions against ownership of securities of any one issuer which constitute more than 10% of the voting power or value of such issuer’s securities or more than 5% of the value of our total assets, as described below in “—Asset Tests.”

Ownership of Interests in Taxable REIT Subsidiaries. In general, we may jointly elect with a subsidiary corporation, whether or not wholly owned, to treat such subsidiary corporation as a taxable REIT subsidiary. We currently have one taxable REIT subsidiary. A taxable REIT subsidiary of ours is a corporation other than a

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REIT in which we directly or indirectly hold stock, and that has made a joint election with us to be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary under Section 856(l) of the Code. A taxable REIT subsidiary also includes any corporation other than a REIT in which a taxable REIT subsidiary of ours owns, directly or indirectly, securities (other than certain “straight debt” securities), which represent more than 35% of the total voting power or value of the outstanding securities of such corporation. For purposes of the following discussion, the term “taxable REIT subsidiary” includes subsidiaries of the taxable REIT subsidiaries. Other than some activities relating to lodging and health care facilities, a taxable REIT subsidiary may generally engage in any business, including the provision of customary or non-customary services to our tenants without causing us to receive impermissible tenant service income under the REIT gross income tests. A taxable REIT subsidiary is required to pay regular U.S. federal income tax, and state and local income tax where applicable, as a non-REIT “C” corporation. In addition, a taxable REIT subsidiary may be prevented from deducting interest on debt funded directly or indirectly by us if certain tests regarding the taxable REIT subsidiary’s debt to equity ratio and interest expense are not satisfied. If dividends are paid to us by our taxable REIT subsidiaries, then a portion of the dividends we distribute to shareholders who are taxed at individual rates will generally be eligible for taxation at lower capital gains rates, rather than at ordinary income rates. See “—Taxation of U.S. Shareholders—Taxation of Taxable U.S. Shareholders—Qualified Dividend Income.”

Generally, a taxable REIT subsidiary can perform impermissible tenant services without causing us to receive impermissible tenant services income under the REIT income tests. However, several provisions applicable to the arrangements between us and our taxable REIT subsidiaries ensure that such taxable REIT subsidiaries will be subject to an appropriate level of U.S. federal income taxation. For example, we will be obligated to pay a 100% penalty tax on some payments we receive from, or on certain expenses deducted by, or service income imputed to, our taxable REIT subsidiaries if the economic arrangements between us, our tenants and such taxable REIT subsidiaries are not comparable to similar arrangements among unrelated parties. Our taxable REIT subsidiaries, and any future taxable REIT subsidiaries acquired by us, may make payments to us and to third parties in connection with activities related to our properties. There can be no assurance that the IRS might not seek to impose the 100% excise tax on a portion of payments received by us from, or expenses deducted by, or service income imputed to, our taxable REIT subsidiaries.

As discussed in greater detail below, in certain circumstances, we transfer to our taxable REIT subsidiaries homes or portfolios of homes the sale of which may not qualify for the safe harbor for prohibited transactions. In connection with those transfers, any post-transfer operating income recognized by the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary in respect of such homes and any gain recognized by the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary on a subsequent sale of such homes will be subject to a corporate level tax. In addition, if such homes are transferred by our operating partnership to one of our taxable REIT subsidiaries in a tax-deferred transaction under Section 351 of the Code and there is built-in loss in such homes, the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary would not recognize the built-in loss on a subsequent sale of such homes, unless our operating partnership were to elect to reduce its stock basis in the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary (which would cause the partners of our operating partnership to reduce their bases in their partnership interests) by the amount of the built-in loss. See “—Gross Income Tests—Income from Prohibited Transactions.”

Gross Income Tests

To qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income tests which are applied on an annual basis. First, in each taxable year at least 75% of our gross income, excluding gross income from sales of inventory or dealer property in “prohibited transactions” and certain hedging and foreign currency transactions, must be derived from investments relating to real property or mortgages on real property, including:

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Second, at least 95% of our gross income in each taxable year, excluding gross income from prohibited transactions and certain hedging transactions, must be derived from some combination of income that qualifies under the 75% gross income test described above, as well as (a) other dividends, (b) interest, and (c) gain from the sale or disposition of shares or securities, in either case, not held for sale to customers.

Rents from Real Property. Rents we receive will qualify as “rents from real property” for the purpose of satisfying the gross income requirements for a REIT described above only if several conditions are met. These conditions relate to the identity of the tenant, the computation of the rent payable, and the nature of the property lease.

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We generally lease our properties to tenants that are individuals. Our leases typically have a term of at least one year and require the tenant to pay fixed rent. We do not currently lease and we do not anticipate leasing significant amounts of personal property pursuant to our leases.

We monitor (and intend to continue to monitor) the activities provided at, and the non-qualifying income arising from, our properties and believe that we have not provided services at levels that will cause us to fail to meet the gross income tests. We provide services and may provide access to third party service providers at some or all of our properties. Based upon our experience in the markets where the properties are located, we believe that all access to service providers and services provided to tenants by us (other than through a qualified independent contractor or a taxable REIT subsidiary) either are usually or customarily rendered in connection with the rental of real property and not otherwise considered rendered to the occupant, or, if considered impermissible services, will not result in an amount of impermissible tenant service income that will cause us to fail to meet the gross income test requirements. However, we cannot provide any assurance that the IRS will agree with these positions.

Interest Income. Interest income constitutes qualifying mortgage interest for purposes of the 75% gross income test to the extent that the obligation upon which such interest is paid is secured by a mortgage on real property or an interest in real property. Except as provided in the next sentence below, if we receive interest income with respect to a mortgage loan that is secured by both real property and other property, and the highest principal amount of the loan outstanding during a taxable year exceeds the fair market value of the real property on the date that we acquired or originated the mortgage loan, the interest income will be apportioned between the real property and the other collateral, and our income from the arrangement will qualify for purposes of the 75% gross income test only to the extent that the interest is allocable to the real property. In the case of real estate mortgage loans that are secured by both real property and personal property, if the fair market value of such personal property does not exceed 15% of the total fair market value of all property securing the loan, then the personal property securing the loan will be treated as real property for purposes of determining whether the interest income on such loan is qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test.

Under the Code, if the terms of a loan are modified in a manner constituting a “significant modification,” such modification triggers a deemed exchange of the original loan for the modified loan. Revenue Procedure 2014-51 provides a safe harbor pursuant to which we will not be required to redetermine the fair market value of the real property securing a loan for purposes of the gross income and asset tests in connection with a loan modification that is: (1) occasioned by a borrower default; or (2) made at a time when we reasonably believe that the modification to the loan will substantially reduce a significant risk of default on the original loan. If we modify a mortgage loan in the future, no assurance can be provided that all of our loan modifications will qualify for the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2014-51.

To the extent that we derive interest income from a mortgage loan, or income from the rental of real property, where all or a portion of the amount of interest or rental income payable is contingent, such income generally will qualify for purposes of the gross income tests only if it is based upon the gross receipts or sales, and no part is based on the net income or profits, of the borrower or lessee, a tenant or subtenant of the borrower or lessee, or any other person. However, this limitation does not apply where the borrower or lessee derives substantially all of its income from leasing substantially all of its interest in the property to tenants or subtenants, to the extent that the rental income derived by the borrower or lessee, as the case may be, would qualify as rents from real property had we earned the income directly.

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We do not currently and we do not expect in the future to derive significant amounts of interest that will not qualify under the 75% and 95% gross income tests.

Other Income. We may receive various fees in connection with our operations. The fees generally will be qualifying income for purposes of both the 75% and 95% gross income tests if they are received in consideration for entering into an agreement to make a loan secured by real property and the fees are not determined by income and profits. Other fees are not qualifying income for purposes of either the 75% or the 95% gross income tests. Any fees earned by a taxable REIT subsidiary will not be included for purposes of determining whether we have satisfied the gross income tests. Fee income received from performing property management or other services to third parties and joint ventures with third parties (to the extent of the third party’s interest in the joint venture) is treated as nonqualifying income for purposes of both the 75% and 95% gross income tests.

Dividend Income. Our share of any dividends received from any corporations in which we own an interest (including taxable REIT subsidiaries but excluding qualified REIT subsidiaries) will qualify for purposes of the 95% gross income test but not for purposes of the 75% gross income test. We do not anticipate that we will receive sufficient dividends from such corporations to cause us to exceed the limit on non-qualifying income under the 75% gross income test. Dividends that we receive from other qualifying REITs will qualify for purposes of both the 75% and 95% gross income tests.

Income from Hedging Transactions. From time to time we may enter into hedging transactions with respect to one or more of our assets or liabilities. Any such hedging transactions could take a variety of forms, including the use of derivative instruments such as interest rate swap or cap agreements, option agreements, and futures or forward contracts. Income of a REIT, including income from a pass-through subsidiary, arising from “clearly identified” hedging transactions that are entered into to manage the risk of interest rate or price changes with respect to borrowings, including gain from the disposition of such hedging transactions, to the extent the hedging transactions hedge indebtedness incurred, or to be incurred, by the REIT to acquire or carry real estate assets (each such hedge, a “Borrowings Hedge”), will not be treated as gross income for purposes of the 95% gross income test, and will not be treated as gross income for purposes of the 75% gross income test. Income of a REIT arising from hedging transactions that are entered into to manage the risk of currency fluctuations with respect to our investments (each such hedge, a “Currency Hedge”) will not be treated as gross income for purposes of either the 95% gross income test or the 75% gross income test, provided that the transaction is “clearly identified.” This exclusion from the 95% and 75% gross income tests also will apply if we previously entered into a Borrowings Hedge or a Currency Hedge, a portion of the hedged indebtedness or property is disposed of, and in connection with such extinguishment or disposition we enter into a new “clearly identified” hedging transaction to offset the prior hedging position. In general, for a hedging transaction to be “clearly identified,” (1) it must be identified as a hedging transaction before the end of the day on which it is acquired, originated, or entered into; and (2) the items of risks being hedged must be identified “substantially contemporaneously” with entering into the hedging transaction (generally not more than 35 days after entering into the hedging transaction). To the extent that we hedge with other types of financial instruments or in other situations, the resultant income will be treated as income that does not qualify under the 95% or 75% gross income tests unless the hedge meets certain requirements and we elect to integrate it with a specified asset and to treat the integrated position as a synthetic debt instrument. We intend to structure any hedging transactions in a manner that does not jeopardize our qualification as a REIT but there can be no assurance we will be successful in this regard.

Income from Prohibited Transactions. Any gain that we realize on the sale of any property held as inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business (commonly referred to as “dealer property”) including our share of any such gain realized by our operating partnership, either directly or through its subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies, will be treated as income from a prohibited transaction that is subject to a 100% penalty tax. For purposes of determining the amount of income subject to the penalty tax, gains from sales of dealer property may not be offset by losses from such sales. Whether property is held as dealer property is a question of fact that depends on all the facts and circumstances surrounding the particular transaction. Among the factors considered by the IRS and the courts in making the dealer

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determination are the nature and purpose of the acquisition of the property; the duration of ownership of the property; the extent and nature of the taxpayer’s efforts to sell the property; the number, extent, continuity, substantiality of the property sales; the extent of subdividing, developing, and advertising the property to increase sales; the use of a business office for the sale of the property; the character and degree of supervision or control exercised by the taxpayer over any representative selling the property; and the time and effort the taxpayer habitually devotes to the sale. The frequency and substantiality of sales is often cited by the courts as the most important objective factor in determining whether the taxpayer is engaged in the business of selling real estate to customers. The fact that the taxpayer holds some or even a substantial portion of its properties for lease and for long-term investment (i.e., not as dealer property) does not necessarily preclude other properties from being viewed as dealer property if the specific facts and circumstances relating thereto indicate that such properties were acquired and held for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business.

However, we will not be treated as a dealer in real property with respect to a property which is a real estate asset that we sell for the purposes of the 100% tax if (i) we have held the property for at least two years for the production of rental income prior to the sale, (ii) capitalized expenditures on the property in the two years preceding the sale are less than 30% of the net selling price of the property, and (iii) we either (a) have seven or fewer sales of property (excluding certain property obtained through foreclosure) for the year of sale, or (b) the aggregate adjusted basis of property sold during the year is 10% or less of the aggregate adjusted basis of all of our assets as of the beginning of the taxable year, or (c) the fair market value of property sold during the year is 10% or less of the aggregate fair market value of all of our assets as of the beginning of the taxable year, or (d) the aggregate adjusted basis of property sold during the year is 20% or less of the aggregate adjusted basis of all of our assets as of the beginning of the taxable year and the aggregate adjusted basis of property sold during the three-year period ending with the year of sale is 10% or less of the aggregate tax basis of all of our assets as of the beginning of each of the three taxable years ending with the year of sale, or (e) the fair market value of property sold during the year is 20% or less of the aggregate fair market value of all of our assets as of the beginning of the taxable year and the fair market value of property sold during the three-year period ending with the year of sale is 10% or less of the aggregate fair market value of all of our assets as of the beginning of each of the three taxable years ending with the year of sale. If we rely on clauses (b), (c), (d), or (e) in the preceding sentence, substantially all of the marketing and development expenditures with respect to the property sold must be made through an independent contractor from whom we derive no income or our taxable REIT subsidiary. The sale of more than one property to one buyer as part of one transaction constitutes one sale for purposes of this “safe harbor.”

We structure our activities to avoid transactions that are prohibited transactions. However, the avoidance of prohibited transactions could cause us to undertake fewer sales of property than we would otherwise undertake in order to maximize our profits. In addition, we may have to sell numerous properties to a single or a few purchasers, which could cause us to be less profitable than would be the case if we sold properties on a property-by-property basis. In certain circumstances, we may transfer one or more homes or portfolio of homes to one of our taxable REIT subsidiaries prior to marketing them for sale. In connection with those transfers, any post-transfer, pre-sale operating income and gain recognized by the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary on a subsequent sale thereof will be subject to a corporate level income tax, as discussed above in “—Effect of Subsidiary Entities—Ownership of Interests in Taxable REIT Subsidiaries,” but generally should not be subject to the 100% penalty tax. However, in the event that the IRS were to assert successfully that any such subsequent sale should be treated as having been made by the REIT (instead of our taxable REIT subsidiary), we could be subject to the penalty tax on gain recognized on such sales if the homes are otherwise determined to have been held by the REIT as dealer property and the safe harbor does not apply. In addition, the extent to which we can transfer homes to a taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to the constraint that the aggregate value of the equity and non-mortgage debt securities of all taxable REIT subsidiaries in which we hold an interest cannot exceed 20% of the Company’s total assets at the end of any calendar quarter. Further, because dividends that we receive from the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary constitute nonqualifying gross income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, we could be constrained in our ability to cause the applicable taxable REIT subsidiary to pay dividends to us.

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We have interests in several joint ventures that acquired mortgage loans. Those joint ventures have agreed not to sell or dispose of property if such sale or disposition would constitute a prohibited transaction. However, we do not control, or have consents rights with respect to the operation of, those joint ventures so there can be no assurance that the joint ventures will not engage in prohibited transactions.

Income from Foreclosure Property. We generally will be subject to tax at the maximum corporate rate (currently 21%) on any net income from foreclosure property, including any gain from the disposition of the foreclosure property, other than income that constitutes qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test. Foreclosure property is real property and any personal property incident to such real property (1) that we acquire as the result of having bid on the property at foreclosure, or having otherwise reduced the property to ownership or possession by agreement or process of law, after a default (or upon imminent default) on a lease of the property or a mortgage loan held by us and secured by the property, (2) for which we acquired the related loan or lease at a time when default was not imminent or anticipated, and (3) with respect to which we made a proper election to treat the property as foreclosure property. Any gain from the sale of property for which a foreclosure property election has been made will not be subject to the 100% tax on gains from prohibited transactions described above, even if the property would otherwise constitute inventory or dealer property. To the extent that we receive any income from foreclosure property that does not qualify for purposes of the 75% gross income test, we intend to make an election to treat the related property as foreclosure property if the election is available (which may not be the case with respect to acquired “distressed loans”).

Failure to Satisfy the Gross Income Tests. If we fail to satisfy one or both of the 75% or 95% gross income tests for any taxable year, we may nevertheless qualify as a REIT for that year if we are entitled to relief under the Code. These relief provisions will be generally available if (1) our failure to meet these tests was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect and (2) following our identification of the failure to meet the 75% and/or 95% gross income tests for any taxable year, we file a schedule with the IRS setting forth a description of each item of our gross income that satisfies the gross income tests for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income test for such taxable year in accordance with Treasury Regulations. It is not possible, however, to state whether in all circumstances we would be entitled to the benefit of these relief provisions. If these relief provisions are inapplicable to a particular set of circumstances, we will fail to qualify as a REIT. As discussed above, under “—Taxation of the Company as a REIT—General,” even if these relief provisions apply, a tax would be imposed based on the amount of non-qualifying income. We intend to take advantage of any and all relief provisions that are available to us to cure any violation of the income tests applicable to REITs.

Redetermined Rents; Redetermined Deductions; Excess Interest; or Redetermined Taxable REIT Subsidiary Service Income. Any redetermined rents, redetermined deductions, excess interest or redetermined taxable REIT subsidiary service income will be subject to a 100% penalty tax. In general, redetermined rents are rents from real property that are overstated as a result of services furnished by one of our taxable REIT subsidiaries to any of our tenants, and redetermined deductions and excess interest represent amounts that are deducted by a taxable REIT subsidiary for amounts paid to us that are in excess of the amounts that would have been deducted based on arm’s-length negotiations. Redetermined taxable REIT subsidiary service income means gross income (less allocable deductions) of a taxable REIT subsidiary attributable to services provided to, or on behalf of, the REIT (other than to tenants) to the extent the taxable REIT subsidiary’s income (less deductions) attributable thereto is increased to clearly reflect income.

Rents we receive will not constitute redetermined rents if they qualify for the safe harbor provisions contained in the Code. Safe harbor provisions are provided where:

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While we believe that any fees paid to our taxable REIT subsidiaries for tenant services have and will continue to reflect arm’s-length rates, a taxable REIT subsidiary may under certain circumstances provide tenant services which do not satisfy any of the safe-harbor provisions described above. Nevertheless, these determinations are inherently factual, and the IRS has broad discretion to assert that amounts paid between related parties should be reallocated to clearly reflect their respective incomes. If the IRS successfully made such an assertion, we would be required to pay a 100% penalty tax on the redetermined rent, redetermined deductions, excess interest or redetermined taxable REIT subsidiary service income, as applicable.

Asset Tests

At the close of each calendar quarter, we must satisfy the following tests relating to the nature and diversification of our assets. For purposes of the asset tests, a REIT is not treated as owning the stock of a qualified REIT subsidiary, an equity interest in any entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or an equity interest in any entity that is disregarded as separate from its owner for U.S. federal income tax purposes (a “disregarded entity”). Instead, a REIT is treated as owning its proportionate share of the assets held by such entity.

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The 10% value test does not apply to certain “straight debt” and other excluded securities, as described in the Code, including (1) loans to individuals or estates; (2) obligations to pay rent from real property; (3) rental agreements described in Section 467 of the Code; (4) any security issued by other REITs; (5) certain securities issued by a state, the District of Columbia, a foreign government, or a political subdivision of any of the foregoing, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and (6) any other arrangement as determined by the IRS. In addition, (1) a REIT’s interest as a partner in a partnership is not considered a security for purposes of the 10% value test; (2) any debt instrument issued by a partnership (other than straight debt or other excluded security) will not be considered a security issued by the partnership if at least 75% of the partnership’s gross income is derived from sources that would qualify for the 75% gross income test; and (3) any debt instrument issued by a partnership (other than straight debt or other excluded security) will not be considered a security issued by a partnership to the extent of the REIT’s interest as a partner in the partnership.

For purposes of the 10% value test, debt will meet the “straight debt” safe harbor if (1) neither us, nor any of our controlled taxable REIT subsidiaries (i.e., taxable REIT subsidiaries more than 50% of the vote or value of the outstanding stock of which is directly or indirectly owned by us), own any securities not described in the preceding paragraph that have an aggregate value greater than 1% of the issuer’s outstanding securities, as calculated under the Code, (2) the debt is a written unconditional promise to pay on demand or on a specified date a sum certain in money, (3) the debt is not convertible, directly or indirectly, into stock, and (4) the interest rate and the interest payment dates of the debt are not contingent on the borrower’s profits, the borrower’s discretion or similar factors. However, contingencies regarding time of payment and interest are permissible for purposes of qualifying as a straight debt security if either (1) such contingency does not have the effect of changing the effective yield of maturity, as determined under the Code, other than a change in the annual yield to maturity that does not exceed the greater of (i) 5% of the annual yield to maturity and (ii) 0.25%, or (2) neither the aggregate issue price nor the aggregate face amount of the issuer’s debt instruments held by the REIT exceeds $1,000,000 and not more than 12 months of unaccrued interest is required to be prepaid thereunder. In addition, debt will not be disqualified from being treated as “straight debt” solely because the time or amount of payment is subject to a contingency upon a default or the exercise of a prepayment right by the issuer of the debt, provided that such contingency is consistent with customary commercial practice.

As discussed above under “—Gross Income Tests—Interest Income,” we invest in certain private mortgage loans that are secured by first liens on real property. We anticipate that those private mortgage loans will generally be treated as qualifying assets for the 75% asset test.

We believe that the assets that we hold and intend to hold will satisfy the foregoing asset test requirements. However, we have not and will not obtain independent appraisals to support our conclusions as to the value of our assets. Moreover, the value of some assets may not be susceptible to a precise determination. As a result, there can be no assurance that the IRS will not contend that our ownership of assets violates one or more of the asset tests applicable to REITs in which case we might not satisfy the 75% asset test and the other asset tests and could fail to qualify as a REIT.

Failure to Satisfy the Asset Tests. The asset tests must be satisfied not only on the last day of the calendar quarter in which we, directly or through pass-through subsidiaries, acquire securities in the applicable issuer, but also on the last day of the calendar quarter in which we increase our ownership of securities of such issuer, including as a result of increasing our interest in pass-through subsidiaries. After initially meeting the asset tests at the close of any quarter, we will not lose our status as a REIT for failure to satisfy the asset tests solely by reason of changes in the relative values of our assets. If failure to satisfy the asset tests results from an acquisition of securities or other property during a quarter, we can cure this failure by disposing of sufficient non-qualifying assets within 30 days after the close of that quarter. We believe that we have maintained, and we intend to continue to maintain, adequate records of the value of our assets to ensure compliance with the asset tests, and we intend to

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take any available action within 30 days after the close of any quarter as may be required to cure any noncompliance with the asset tests. Although we plan to take steps to ensure that we satisfy such tests for any quarter with respect to which testing is to occur, there can be no assurance that such steps will always be successful. If we fail to timely cure any noncompliance with the asset tests, we would cease to qualify as a REIT, unless we satisfy certain relief provisions.

The failure to satisfy the 5% asset test, or the 10% vote or value asset tests can be remedied even after the 30-day cure period under certain circumstances. Specifically, if we fail these asset tests at the end of any quarter and such failure is not cured within 30 days thereafter, we may dispose of sufficient assets (generally within six months after the last day of the quarter in which our identification of the failure to satisfy these asset tests occurred) to cure such a violation that does not exceed the lesser of (i) 1% of our assets at the end of the relevant quarter or (ii) $10,000,000. If we fail any of the other asset tests or our failure of the 5% and 10% asset tests is in excess of the de minimis amount described above, as long as such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, we are permitted to avoid disqualification as a REIT, after the 30-day cure period, by taking steps including the disposing of sufficient assets to meet the asset test (generally within six months after the last day of the quarter in which our identification of the failure to satisfy the REIT asset test occurred), paying a tax equal to the greater of (i) $50,000 or (ii) the highest corporate income tax rate of the net income generated by the non-qualifying assets during the period in which we failed to satisfy the asset test, and filing in accordance with applicable Treasury Regulations a schedule with the IRS that describes the assets that caused us to fail to satisfy the asset test(s). We intend to take advantage of any and all relief provisions that are available to us to cure any violation of the asset tests applicable to REITs. Such provisions could result in us being required to pay an excise or penalty tax, which could be significant in amount.

Annual Distribution Requirements

To qualify as a REIT, we are required to distribute dividends, other than capital gain dividends, to our shareholders each year in an amount at least equal to:

For purposes of this test, non-cash income means income attributable to leveled stepped rents, original issue discount included in our taxable income without the receipt of a corresponding payment, cancellation of indebtedness income, or gain from a like-kind exchange that is later determined to be taxable.

We generally must make dividend distributions in the taxable year to which they relate. Dividend distributions may be made in the following year in two circumstances. First, if we declare a dividend in October, November, or December of any year with a prospective record date in one of these months and pay the dividend on or before January 31 of the following year, such distributions are treated as both paid by us and received by each shareholder on December 31 of the year in which they are declared. Second, distributions (“858 spill-over dividends”) may be made in the following year if (A) the distributions are (i) declared before we timely file our tax return for the prior year, (ii) distributed within the 12-month period following the close of the prior taxable year to which they relate back, and (iii) distributed with or before the “first regular dividend payment” after such declaration, and (B) we elect in our tax return to have a specified dollar amount of such dividend (or dividends) treated as if paid in the prior year. The maximum dollar amount that we may elect to treat as an 858 spill-over dividend is the amount by which the earnings and profits for the taxable year exceed the total amount of distributions out of such earnings and profits that were actually made during the taxable year to which they relate back. These distributions are taxable to our shareholders in the year in which paid, even though the distributions relate to our prior taxable year for purposes of the 90% distribution requirement.

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So long as we continue to be a “publicly offered REIT” (i.e., a REIT which is required to file annual and periodic reports with the SEC under the Exchange Act), the preferential divided rule does not apply to us. The preferential dividend rules provides that in order for distributions to be counted as satisfying the annual distribution requirement for REITs, and to provide us with a REIT-level tax deduction, the distributions must not have been “preferential dividends.” A dividend is not a preferential dividend if the distribution is (1) pro rata among all outstanding shares within a particular class, and (2) in accordance with the preferences among different classes of shares as set forth in our organizational documents.

To the extent that we do not distribute all of our net capital gain or distribute at least 90%, but less than 100%, of our “REIT taxable income,” as adjusted, we will be required to pay tax on the undistributed amount at regular corporate tax rates. We believe that we have made, and we intend to continue to make, timely distributions sufficient to satisfy these annual distribution requirements. In certain circumstances, we may elect to retain, rather than distribute, our net long-term capital gains and pay tax on such gains. In this case, we could elect for our shareholders to include their proportionate share of such undistributed long-term capital gains in income, and to receive a corresponding federal income tax credit for their share of the federal income tax that we paid. Our shareholders would then increase their adjusted basis of their shares by the difference between (1) the amounts of capital gain dividends that we designated and that they included in their taxable income, minus (2) the federal income tax that we paid on their behalf with respect to that income.

As of December 31, 2022, we had a net operating loss carryforward from prior taxable years that is estimated to be $11.8 million. That net operating loss carryforward generally may be used to reduce our REIT taxable income to the extent that REIT taxable income is not reduced by our dividends paid deduction. If, in the future, we generate net operating losses, those net operating losses cannot be carried back, but can be carried forward subject to a limitation equal to 80% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction).

If we fail to distribute during each calendar year at least the sum of (a) 85% of our REIT ordinary income for such year, (b) 95% of our REIT capital gain net income for such year, and (c) any undistributed taxable income (ordinary and capital gain) from all prior periods, we would be subject to a non-deductible 4% excise tax on the excess of such required distribution over the sum of (x) the amounts “actually distributed,” and (y) the amounts of income we retained and on which we paid corporate income tax.

We expect that our REIT taxable income (determined before our deduction for dividends paid) will be less than our cash flow because of depreciation and other non-cash charges included in computing REIT taxable income. Accordingly, we anticipate that we will generally have sufficient cash or liquid assets to enable us to satisfy the distribution requirements described above. However, from time to time, we may not have sufficient cash or other liquid assets to meet these distribution requirements due to timing differences between the actual receipt of income and actual payment of deductible expenses, and the inclusion of income and deduction of expenses in arriving at our taxable income. If these timing differences occur, we may need to arrange for short-term, or possibly long-term, borrowings or need to pay dividends in the form of taxable dividends in order to meet the distribution requirements. Under Revenue Procedure 2017-45, we are also permitted to qualify for the dividends paid deduction by paying dividends with up to 80% of the value in stock and at least 20% of the value in cash.

Furthermore, subject to certain exceptions, we must accrue income for U.S. federal income tax purposes no later than when such income is taken into account as revenue in our financial statements, which could create additional differences between our REIT taxable income and the receipt of cash attributable to such income. In addition, Section 162(m) of the Code places a per-employee limit of $1 million on the amount of compensation that a publicly held corporation may deduct in any one year with respect to its chief executive officer and certain other highly compensated executive officers.

We may be able to rectify a failure to meet the distribution requirement for a year by paying “deficiency dividends” to our shareholders in a later year, which may be included in our deduction for dividends paid for the

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earlier year. Thus, we may be able to avoid being taxed on amounts distributed as deficiency dividends. However, we will be required to pay interest to the IRS based upon the amount of any deduction claimed for deficiency dividends.

Interest Deduction Limitations

Section 163(j) of the Code limits the deductibility of net interest expense paid or accrued on debt properly allocable to a trade or business to 30% of “adjusted taxable income,” subject to certain exceptions. Any deduction in excess of the limitation is carried forward and may be used in a subsequent year, subject to the 30% limitation. Adjusted taxable income is determined without regard to certain deductions, including those for net interest expense, and net operating loss carryforwards. If we or our subsidiaries, as applicable, are eligible to make and make a timely election (which is irrevocable), the 30% limitation does not apply to a trade or business involving real property development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, rental, operation, acquisition, conversion, disposition, management, leasing or brokerage, within the meaning of Section 469(c)(7)(C) of the Code. If this election is made, certain depreciable real property (including certain improvements) held by the relevant trade or business must be depreciated under the alternative depreciation system under the Code, which is generally less favorable than the generally applicable system of depreciation under the Code. If we do not make the election or if the election is determined not to be available with respect to all or certain of our business activities, the interest deduction limitation could result in us having more REIT taxable income and thus increase the amount of distributions we must make to comply with the REIT requirements and avoid incurring corporate level tax. Similarly, the limitation could cause our taxable REIT subsidiaries to have greater taxable income and thus potentially greater corporate tax liability.

Record-Keeping Requirements

We are required to comply with applicable record-keeping requirements. Failure to comply could result in monetary fines.

Failure to Qualify as a REIT

If we fail to satisfy one or more requirements for REIT qualification other than gross income and asset tests that have the specific savings clauses, we can avoid termination of our REIT qualification by paying a penalty of $50,000 for each such failure, provided that our noncompliance was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.

If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year and the relief provisions do not apply, we will be subject to tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates. If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we will not be required to make any distributions to our shareholders, and any distributions that are made to our shareholders will not be deductible by us. As a result, our failure to qualify for taxation as a REIT would significantly reduce the cash available for distributions by us to our shareholders. In addition, if we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT, all distributions to our shareholders, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, will be taxable as regular corporate dividends. For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, generally U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts or estates may deduct 20% of the aggregate amount of ordinary dividends distributed by us, subject to certain limitations. Alternatively, such dividends. paid to U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts and estates may be taxable at the preferential income tax rates (i.e., the 20% maximum U.S. federal rate) for qualified dividends.

Unless entitled to relief under specific statutory provisions, we also will be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost. There can be no assurance that we would be entitled to any statutory relief. We intend to take advantage of any and all relief provisions that are available to us to cure any violation of the requirements applicable to REITs.

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Like-Kind Exchanges

We may dispose of properties in transactions intended to qualify as like-kind exchanges under the Code. Such like-kind exchanges are intended to result in the deferral of gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The failure of any such transaction to qualify as a like-kind exchange could require us to pay U.S. federal income tax, possibly including the 100% prohibited transaction tax, depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding the particular transaction.

Tax Aspects of Our Ownership of Interests in our Operating Partnership and other Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies

General

Substantially all of our investments are and will continue to be owned indirectly through our operating partnership, American Homes 4 Rent, L.P. In addition, our operating partnership holds certain of its investments indirectly through subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies that are classified as partnerships or as disregarded entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In general, entities that are classified as partnerships or as disregarded entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes are “pass-through” entities which are not required to pay U.S. federal income tax. Rather, partners or members of such entities are allocated their pro rata shares of the items of income, gain, loss, deduction and credit of the entity, and are required to include these items in calculating their U.S. federal income tax liability, without regard to whether the partners or members receive a distribution of cash from the entity. We include in our income our pro rata share of the foregoing items for purposes of the various REIT gross income tests and in the computation of our REIT taxable income. Moreover, for purposes of the REIT asset tests, we include our pro rata share of assets, based on capital interests, of assets held by our operating partnership, including its share of its subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies. See “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT—Effect of Subsidiary Entities—Ownership of Interests in Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies.”

Entity Classification

Our interests in our operating partnership and the subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies involve special tax considerations, including the possibility that the IRS might challenge the status of one or more of these entities as a partnership or disregarded entity, and assert that such entity is an association taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If our operating partnership, or a subsidiary partnership or limited liability company, were treated as an association, it would be taxable as a corporation and would be required to pay an entity-level tax on its income. In this situation, the character of our assets and items of gross income could change and could preclude us from satisfying the REIT asset tests and possibly the REIT income tests. See “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT—Gross Income Tests” and “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT—Asset Tests.” This, in turn, would prevent us from qualifying as a REIT. See “—Failure to Qualify as a REIT” for a discussion of the effect of our failure to meet these tests for a taxable year. In addition, a change in our operating partnership’s or a subsidiary partnership’s or limited liability company’s status as a partnership for tax purposes might be treated as a taxable event. If so, we might incur a tax liability without any related cash distributions.

We believe each of our operating partnership and our other partnerships and limited liability companies (other than our taxable REIT subsidiaries) is properly treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a partnership or disregarded entity. Pursuant to Treasury Regulations under Section 7701 of the Code, a partnership is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes unless it elects to be treated as a corporation or would be treated as a corporation because it is a “publicly traded partnership.” A “publicly traded partnership” is any partnership (i) the interests in which are traded on an established securities market or (ii) the interests in which are readily tradable on a “secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof.”

Our company and our operating partnership intend to take the reporting position for U.S. federal income tax purposes that our operating partnership is not a publicly traded partnership. There is a risk, however, that the

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right of a holder of OP units to redeem the units for Class A common shares could cause OP units to be considered readily tradable on the substantial equivalent of a secondary market. Under the relevant Treasury Regulations, interests in a partnership will not be considered readily tradable on a secondary market or on the substantial equivalent of a secondary market if the partnership qualifies for specified “safe harbors,” which are based on the specific facts and circumstances relating to the partnership. We and our operating partnership believe that our operating partnership has qualified and will qualify for at least one of these safe harbors at all times in the foreseeable future. Our operating partnership cannot provide any assurance that it will continue to qualify for one of the safe harbors mentioned above.

If our operating partnership is a publicly traded partnership, it will be taxed as a corporation unless at least 90% of its gross income consists of “qualifying income” under Section 7704 of the Code. Qualifying income is generally real property rents and other types of passive income. We believe that our operating partnership has sufficient qualifying income so that it would be taxed as a partnership, even if it were a publicly traded partnership. The income requirements applicable to us in order for us to qualify as a REIT under the Code and the definition of qualifying income under the publicly traded partnership rules are very similar. Although differences exist between these two income tests, we do not believe that these differences would cause our operating partnership not to satisfy the 90% gross income test applicable to publicly traded partnerships.

If our operating partnership were taxable as a corporation, most, if not all, of the tax consequences described herein would be inapplicable. In particular, we would not qualify as a REIT because the value of our ownership interest in our operating partnership would exceed 5% of our assets and we would be considered to hold more than 10% of the voting securities (and more than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities) of another corporation (see “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT—Asset Tests” above). In this event, the value of our shares could be materially adversely affected (see “—Failure to Qualify as a REIT” above).

Allocations of Partnership Income, Gain, Loss and Deduction

The partnership agreement of our operating partnership generally provides that items of operating income and loss will be allocated to reflect the distribution and liquidation preferences of certain holders of OP units, and then to the holders of units in proportion to the number of units held by each such unit holder. Certain limited partners may agree in the future to guarantee debt of our operating partnership, either directly or indirectly through an agreement to make capital contributions to our operating partnership under limited circumstances. As a result of these guarantees or contribution agreements, such limited partners could under limited circumstances be allocated net loss that would have otherwise been allocable to us.

If an allocation of partnership income or loss does not comply with the requirements of Section 704(b) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations thereunder, the item subject to the allocation will be reallocated in accordance with the partners’ interests in the partnership. This reallocation will be determined by taking into account all of the facts and circumstances relating to the economic arrangement of the partners with respect to such item. Our operating partnership’s allocations of taxable income and loss are intended to comply with the requirements of Section 704(b) of the Code and the Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder.

Tax Allocations with Respect to the Properties

Under Section 704(c) of the Code, income, gain, loss and deduction attributable to appreciated or depreciated property that is contributed to a partnership in exchange for an interest in the partnership, must be allocated in a manner so that the contributing partner is charged with the unrealized gain or benefits from the unrealized loss associated with the property at the time of the contribution. The amount of the unrealized gain or unrealized loss is generally equal to the difference between the fair market value or book value and the adjusted tax basis of the property at the time of contribution. These allocations are solely for U.S. federal income tax purposes and do not affect the book capital accounts or other economic or legal arrangements among the partners. The partnership agreement requires that these allocations be made in a manner consistent with Section 704(c) of the Code.

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Treasury Regulations issued under Section 704(c) of the Code provide partnerships with a choice of several methods of accounting for book-tax differences. We and our operating partnership have used the “traditional method” for accounting for book-tax differences for properties contributed to our operating partnership. Under the traditional method, which is the least favorable method from our perspective, the carryover basis of contributed properties in the hands of our operating partnership (i) may cause us to be allocated lower amounts of depreciation and other deductions for tax purposes than would be allocated to us if all contributed properties were to have a tax basis equal to their fair market value at the time of the contribution and (ii) in the event of a sale of such properties, could cause us to be allocated taxable gain in excess of our corresponding economic or book gain (or taxable loss that is less than our economic or book loss) with respect to the sale, with a corresponding benefit to the contributing partners. Therefore, the use of the traditional method could result in our having taxable income that is in excess of economic income and our cash distributions from our operating partnership. This excess taxable income is sometimes referred to as “phantom income” and will be subject to the REIT distribution requirements described in “—Annual Distribution Requirements.” Because we rely on our cash distributions from our operating partnership to meet the REIT distribution requirements, the phantom income could adversely affect our ability to comply with the REIT distribution requirements and cause our shareholders to recognize additional dividend income without an increase in distributions. See “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT” and “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT—Annual Distribution Requirements.” We and our operating partnership may use the traditional method to account for book-tax differences for other properties acquired by our operating partnership in the future. Any property acquired by our operating partnership in a taxable transaction will initially have a tax basis equal to its fair market value and, accordingly, Section 704(c) of the Code will not apply.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders

Taxation of Taxable U.S. Shareholders

This section summarizes the taxation of U.S. shareholders that are not tax-exempt organizations.

If an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our shares, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner generally will depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. A partner of a partnership holding our shares should consult its tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences to the partner of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our shares by the partnership.

Distributions Generally. So long as we qualify as a REIT, distributions out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits that are not designated as capital gains dividends or “qualified dividend income” will be taxable to our taxable U.S. shareholders as ordinary income and will not be eligible for the dividends-received deduction in the case of U.S. shareholders that are corporations. However, for taxable years beginning prior to 2026, generally U.S. shareholders that are individuals, trusts or estates may deduct 20% of the aggregate amount of ordinary dividends distributed by us, subject to certain limitations. For purposes of determining whether distributions to holders of our shares are out of current or accumulated earnings and profits, our earnings and profits will be allocated first to any preferred shares and then to our common shares.

Dividends received from REITs are generally not eligible to be taxed at the preferential qualified dividend income rates currently available to individual U.S. shareholders who receive dividends from non-REIT “C” corporations.

Capital Gain Dividends. We may elect to designate distributions of our net capital gain as “capital gain dividends.” Distributions that we properly designate as “capital gain dividends” will be taxable to our taxable U.S. shareholders as long-term capital gains without regard to the period for which the U.S. shareholder that receives such distribution has held its shares, to the extent that such distributions do not exceed our actual net capital gain for the taxable year and do not exceed our dividends paid with respect to the taxable year, taking

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Section 858 of the Code into account. Designations made by us will only be effective to the extent that they comply with Revenue Ruling 89-81, which requires that distributions made to different classes of shares be composed proportionately of dividends of a particular type. If we designate any portion of a dividend as a capital gain dividend, a U.S. shareholder will receive an IRS Form 1099-DIV indicating the amount that will be taxable to the shareholder as capital gain. Corporate shareholders, however, may be required to treat up to 20% of some capital gain dividends as ordinary income. Recipients of capital gain dividends from us that are taxed at corporate income tax rates will be taxed at the normal corporate income tax rates on these dividends.

We may elect to retain and pay taxes on some or all of our net long-term capital gains, in which case U.S. shareholders will be treated as having received, solely for U.S. federal income tax purposes, our undistributed capital gains as well as a corresponding credit or refund, as the case may be, for U.S. federal income taxes that we paid on such undistributed capital gains. A U.S. shareholder will increase the basis in its shares by the difference between the amount of capital gain included in its income and the amount of U.S. federal income tax it is deemed to have paid. A U.S. shareholder that is a corporation will appropriately adjust its earnings and profits for the retained capital gain in accordance with Treasury Regulations to be prescribed by the IRS. Our earnings and profits will be adjusted appropriately.

We will classify portions of any designated capital gain dividend or undistributed capital gain as either:

Distributions from us in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits will not be taxable to a U.S. shareholder to the extent that they do not exceed the adjusted basis of the U.S. shareholder’s shares in respect of which the distributions were made. Rather, the distribution will reduce the adjusted basis of these shares. To the extent that such distributions exceed the adjusted basis of a U.S. shareholder’s shares, the U.S. shareholder generally must include such distributions in income as long-term capital gain, or short-term capital gain if the shares have been held for one year or less. In addition, any dividend that we declare in October, November or December of any year and that is payable to a shareholder of record on a prospective date in any such month will be treated as both paid by us and received by the shareholder on December 31 of such year, provided that we actually pay the dividend before the end of January of the following calendar year.

As of December 31, 2022, we had a net operating loss carryforward from prior taxable years that is estimated to be $11.8 million. That net operating loss carryforward generally may be used to reduce our REIT taxable income to the extent that REIT taxable income is not reduced by our dividends paid deduction. If, in the future, we generate net operating losses, those net operating losses cannot be carried back, but can be carried forward subject to a limitation equal to 80% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction). See “—Taxation of the Company as a REIT” and “—Requirements for Qualification as a REIT—Annual Distribution Requirements.” Such losses, however, are not passed through to U.S. shareholders and do not offset income of U.S. shareholders from other sources, nor would such losses affect the character of any distributions that we make, which are generally subject to tax in the hands of U.S. shareholders to the extent that we have current or accumulated earnings and profits.

Qualified Dividend Income. With respect to U.S. shareholders who are taxed at the rates applicable to individuals, we may elect to designate a portion of our distributions paid to shareholders as “qualified dividend income.” A portion of a distribution that is properly designated as qualified dividend income is taxable to non-corporate U.S. shareholders as capital gain, provided that the shareholder has held the shares with respect to which the distribution is made for more than 60 days during the 121-day period beginning on the date that is

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60 days before the date on which such shares become ex-dividend with respect to the relevant distribution. The maximum amount of our distributions eligible to be designated as qualified dividend income for a taxable year is equal to the sum of:

Generally, dividends that we receive will be treated as qualified dividend income for purposes of the first bullet above if (A) the dividends are received from (i) a U.S. corporation (other than a REIT or a RIC), (ii) any of our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or (iii) a “qualifying foreign corporation,” and (B) specified holding period requirements and other requirements are met. A foreign corporation (other than a “passive foreign investment company”) will be a qualifying foreign corporation if it is incorporated in a possession of the United States, the corporation is eligible for benefits of an income tax treaty with the United States that the Secretary of Treasury determines is satisfactory, or the stock of the foreign corporation on which the dividend is paid is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States. We generally expect that an insignificant portion, if any, of our distributions from us will consist of qualified dividend income. If we designate any portion of a dividend as qualified dividend income, a U.S. shareholder will receive an IRS Form 1099-DIV indicating the amount that will be taxable to the shareholder as qualified dividend income.

Passive Activity Losses and Investment Interest Limitations. Distributions we make and gain arising from the sale or exchange by a U.S. shareholder of our shares will not be treated as passive activity income. As a result, U.S. shareholders generally will not be able to apply any “passive losses” against this income or gain. Distributions we make, to the extent they do not constitute a return of capital, generally will be treated as investment income for purposes of computing the investment interest limitation. A U.S. shareholder may elect, depending on its particular situation, to treat capital gain dividends, capital gains from the disposition of our shares and income designated as qualified dividend income as investment income for purposes of the investment interest limitation, in which case the applicable capital gains will be taxed at ordinary income rates. We will notify shareholders regarding the portions of our distributions for each year that constitute ordinary income, return of capital and qualified dividend income.

Distributions to Holders of Depositary Shares. Owners of depositary shares will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as if they were owners of the underlying preferred shares represented by such depositary shares. Accordingly, such owners will be entitled to take into account, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, income and deductions to which they would be entitled if they were direct holders of underlying preferred shares.

In addition, (i) no gain or loss will be recognized for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon the withdrawal of certificates evidencing the underlying preferred shares in exchange for depositary receipts, (ii) the tax basis of each share of the underlying preferred shares to an exchanging owner of depositary shares will, upon such exchange, be the same as the aggregate tax basis of the depositary shares exchanged therefor, and (iii) the holding period for the underlying preferred shares in the hands of an exchanging owner of depositary shares will include the period during which such person owned such depositary shares.

Dispositions of Our Shares. If a U.S. shareholder sells or otherwise disposes of our shares in a taxable transaction (other than redemption), it will recognize gain or loss for U.S. federal income tax purposes in an amount equal to

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the difference between the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received on the sale or other disposition and the holder’s adjusted basis in the shares for tax purposes. In general, a U.S. shareholder’s adjusted basis will equal the U.S. shareholder’s acquisition cost, increased by the excess for net capital gains deemed distributed to the U.S. shareholder (discussed above) less tax deemed paid on it and reduced by returns on capital.

In general, capital gains recognized by individuals and other non-corporate U.S. shareholders upon the sale or disposition of our shares will be subject to a maximum U.S. federal income tax rate of 20%, if our shares are held for more than one year, and will be taxed at ordinary income rates (of up to 37%) if our shares are held for one year or less. Gains recognized by U.S. shareholders that are corporations are subject to U.S. federal income tax at a maximum rate of 21%, whether or not such gains are classified as long-term capital gains. The IRS has the authority to prescribe, but has not yet prescribed, Treasury Regulations that would apply a capital gain tax rate of 25% (which is higher than the long-term capital gain tax rates for non-corporate U.S. shareholders) to a portion of capital gain realized by a non-corporate U.S. shareholder on the sale of our shares that would correspond to our “unrecaptured Section 1250 gain.” U.S. shareholders should consult with their tax advisors with respect to their capital gain tax liability.

Capital losses recognized by a U.S. shareholder upon the disposition of our shares that were held for more than one year at the time of disposition will be considered long-term capital losses, and are generally available only to offset capital gain income of the shareholder but not ordinary income (except in the case of individuals, who may offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income each year). Similarly, capital losses recognized by a U.S. shareholder upon the disposition of our shares that were held for one year or less at the time of disposition will be considered short-term capital losses, and are generally available only to offset capital gain income of the shareholder but not ordinary income (except in the case of individuals, who may offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income each year). In addition, any loss upon a sale or exchange of our shares by a U.S. shareholder who has held the shares for six months or less, after applying holding period rules, will be treated as a long-term capital loss to the extent of distributions that we make that are treated by the U.S. shareholder as long-term capital gain.

If a shareholder recognizes a loss upon a subsequent disposition of our shares in an amount that exceeds a prescribed threshold, it is possible that the provisions of Treasury Regulations involving “reportable transactions” could apply, with a resulting requirement to separately disclose the loss-generating transaction to the IRS. These regulations, though directed towards “tax shelters,” are broadly written, and may apply to transactions that would not typically be considered tax shelters. The Code imposes significant penalties for failure to comply with these requirements. U.S. shareholders should consult their tax advisors concerning any possible disclosure obligation with respect to the receipt or disposition of our shares, or transactions that we might undertake directly or indirectly.

Medicare Tax on Unearned Income. Certain U.S. shareholders that are individuals, estates or trusts are required to pay an additional 3.8% tax on “net investment income,” which includes, among other things, dividends on and gains from the sale or other disposition of REIT shares. The temporary 20% deduction allowed by Section 199A of the Code with respect to ordinary REIT dividends received by non-corporate taxpayers is allowed only for purposes of Chapter 1 of the Code and is not allowed as a deduction for purposes of determining the amount of net investment income subject to the 3.8% Medicare tax, which is imposed under Chapter 2A of the Code.

Legislation Relating To Foreign Accounts. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) imposes a 30% withholding tax on certain types of payments made to “foreign financial institutions” and certain other non-U.S. entities unless certain due diligence, reporting, withholding, and certification obligations requirements are satisfied. Investors are advised to consult their tax advisors regarding this legislation. See “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding Tax Applicable to Shareholders—U.S. Shareholders—Legislation Relating To Foreign Accounts.”

Redemption of Preferred Shares and Depositary Shares. Whenever we redeem any preferred shares or depositary shares, the treatment accorded to any redemption by us for cash (as distinguished from a sale, exchange or other

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disposition) of our preferred shares or depositary shares to a holder of such shares can only be determined on the basis of the particular facts as to each holder at the time of redemption. In general, a holder of our preferred shares or depositary shares will recognize capital gain or loss measured by the difference between the amount received by the holder of such shares upon the redemption and such holder’s adjusted tax basis in the shares redeemed (provided the preferred shares are held as a capital asset) if such redemption (i) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the holder of the preferred shares under Section 302(b)(1) of the Code, (ii) is a “substantially disproportionate” redemption with respect to the shareholder under Section 302(b)(2) of the Code, or (iii) results in a “complete termination” of the holder’s interest in all classes of our shares under Section 302(b)(3) of the Code. In applying these tests, there must be taken into account not only any series or class of the shares being redeemed, but also such holder’s ownership of other classes of our shares and any options (including share purchase rights) to acquire any of the foregoing. The holder of our preferred shares or depositary shares also must take into account any such securities (including options) which are considered to be owned by such holder by reason of the constructive ownership rules set forth in Sections 318 and 302(c) of the Code.

If the holder of preferred shares or depositary shares owns (actually or constructively) none of our voting shares, or owns an insubstantial amount of our voting shares, based upon current law, it is probable that the redemption of preferred shares from such a holder would be considered to be “not essentially equivalent to a dividend.” However, whether a distribution is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” depends on all of the facts and circumstances, and a holder of our preferred shares or depositary shares intending to rely on any of these tests at the time of redemption should consult its tax advisor to determine their application to its particular situation.

Satisfaction of the “substantially disproportionate” and “complete termination” exceptions is dependent upon compliance with the respective objective tests set forth in Section 302(b)(2) and Section 302(b)(3) of the Code. A distribution to a holder of preferred shares or depositary shares will be “substantially disproportionate” if the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the shareholder immediately following the redemption of shares (treating preferred shares redeemed as not outstanding) is less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting shares actually and constructively owned by the shareholder immediately before the redemption, and immediately following the redemption the shareholder actually and constructively owns less than 50% of the total combined voting power of the Company. Because the Company’s preferred shares and depositary shares are nonvoting shares, a shareholder would have to reduce such holder’s holdings (if any) in our classes of voting shares to satisfy this test.

If the redemption does not meet any of the tests under Section 302 of the Code, then the redemption proceeds received from our preferred shares or depositary shares will be treated as a distribution on our shares as described under “Taxation of U.S. Shareholders—Taxation of Taxable U.S. Shareholders—Distributions Generally.” If the redemption of a holder’s preferred shares or depositary shares is taxed as a dividend, the adjusted basis of such holder’s redeemed shares will be transferred to any other shares held by the holder. If the holder owns no other shares, under certain circumstances, such basis may be transferred to a related person, or it may be lost entirely.

Conversion of Our Preferred Shares into Class A Common Shares. Except as provided below, a U.S. shareholder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the conversion of our preferred shares into our Class A common shares. Except as provided below, a U.S. shareholder’s basis and holding period in the Class A common shares received upon conversion generally will be the same as those of the converted preferred shares (but the basis will be reduced by the portion of adjusted tax basis allocated to any fractional share of common stock exchanged for cash). Any Class A common shares received in a conversion that is attributable to accumulated and unpaid dividends on the converted preferred shares will be treated as a distribution on our shares as described above in “—Taxation of U.S. Shareholders—Taxation of Taxable U.S. Shareholders—Distributions Generally.” Cash received upon conversion in lieu of a fractional share of common stock generally will be treated as a payment in a taxable exchange for such fractional share of common stock, and gain or loss will be recognized on the receipt of cash in an amount equal to the difference between the amount of cash received and the adjusted tax basis allocable to the fractional share of common stock deemed exchanged. This gain or loss will be long-term capital

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gain or loss if the U.S. shareholder has held the preferred shares for more than one year. See “—Taxation of U.S. Shareholders—Dispositions of Our Shares.” U.S. shareholders should consult with their tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of any transaction by which such holder exchanges Class A common shares received on a conversion of preferred shares for cash or other property.

Taxation of Tax Exempt Shareholders

U.S. tax-exempt entities, including qualified employee pension and profit sharing trusts and individual retirement accounts, generally are exempt from U.S. federal income taxation. Such entities, however, may be subject to taxation on their unrelated business taxable income, or UBTI. While some investments in real estate may generate UBTI, the IRS has ruled that dividend distributions from a REIT to a tax-exempt entity generally do not constitute UBTI. Based on that ruling, and provided that (1) a tax-exempt shareholder has not held our shares as “debt financed property” within the meaning of the Code (i.e., where the acquisition or holding of the property is financed through a borrowing by the U.S. tax-exempt shareholder), (2) our shares are not otherwise used in an unrelated trade or business, and (3) we do not hold an asset that gives rise to “excess inclusion income,” distributions that we make and income from the sale of our shares generally should not give rise to UBTI to a U.S. tax-exempt shareholder.

Tax-exempt shareholders that are social clubs, voluntary employee benefit associations, supplemental unemployment benefit trusts, or qualified group legal services plans exempt from U.S. federal income taxation under Sections 501(c)(7), (c)(9), (c)(17) or (c)(20) of the Code, respectively, or single parent title-holding corporations exempt under Section 501(c)(2) and whose income is payable to any of the aforementioned tax-exempt organizations, are subject to different UBTI rules, which generally require such shareholders to characterize distributions from us as UBTI unless the organization is able to properly claim a deduction for amounts set aside or placed in reserve for certain purposes so as to offset the income generated by its investment in our shares. These shareholders should consult with their tax advisors concerning these set aside and reserve requirements.

In certain circumstances, a pension trust (1) that is described in Section 401(a) of the Code, (2) is tax exempt under Section 501(a) of the Code, and (3) that owns more than 10% of our shares could be required to treat a percentage of the dividends as UBTI, if we are a “pension-held REIT.” We will be a pension-held REIT if:

The percentage of any REIT dividend from a “pension-held REIT” that is treated as UBTI is equal to the ratio of the UBTI earned by the REIT, treating the REIT as if it were a pension trust and therefore subject to tax on UBTI, to the total gross income of the REIT. An exception applies where the percentage is less than 5% for any year, in which case none of the dividends would be treated as UBTI. The provisions requiring pension trusts to treat a portion of REIT distributions as UBTI will not apply if the REIT is able to satisfy the “not closely held requirement” without relying upon the “look-through” exception with respect to pension trusts. As a result of certain limitations on the transfer and ownership of our common and preferred shares contained in our declaration of trust, we do not expect to be classified as a “pension-held REIT,” and accordingly, the tax treatment described above with respect to pension-held REITs should be inapplicable to our tax-exempt shareholders.

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Prospective shareholders who are tax-exempt organizations should consult with their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing in our shares.

Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders

The following discussion addresses the rules governing U.S. federal income taxation of non-U.S. shareholders. For purposes of this discussion, “non-U.S. shareholder” is a beneficial owner of our shares that is not a U.S. shareholder (as defined above) or an entity that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. These rules are complex, and no attempt is made herein to provide more than a brief summary of such rules. Accordingly, the discussion does not address all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation and does not address state, local, foreign, or other tax consequences that may be relevant to a non-U.S. shareholder in light of its particular circumstances.

Distributions Generally. As described in the discussion below, distributions paid by us with respect to our shares will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as either:

This discussion assumes that our shares will be considered regularly traded on an established securities market for purposes of the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, or FIRPTA, provisions described below. Generally, FIRPTA treats gain from the disposition of U.S. real property interests, or USRPIs, (and certain distributions received, that are attributable to gain from disposition of USRPIs) as income effectively connected with a non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a U.S. trade or business, and subjects such income to U.S. federal income tax at rates applicable to U.S. individuals or corporations. If our shares are no longer regularly traded on an established securities market, the tax considerations described below would materially differ.

Ordinary Income Dividends. A distribution paid by us to a non-U.S. shareholder will be treated as an ordinary income dividend if the distribution is payable out of our earnings and profits and:

In general, non-U.S. shareholders will not be considered to be engaged in a U.S. trade or business solely as a result of their ownership of our shares. In cases where the dividend income from a non-U.S. shareholder’s investment in our shares is, or is treated as, effectively connected with the non-U.S. shareholder’s conduct of a U.S. trade or business, the non-U.S. shareholder generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at graduated rates, in the same manner as U.S. shareholders are taxed with respect to such dividends. Such income must generally be reported on a U.S. federal income tax return filed by or on behalf of the non-U.S. shareholder. The income may also be subject to the U.S. branch profits tax of 30% (unless a lower treaty rate applies) in the case of a non-U.S. shareholder that is a corporation.

Generally, we will withhold and remit to the IRS 30% of dividend distributions (including distributions that may later be determined to have been made in excess of current and accumulated earnings and profits) that could not be treated as capital gain distributions with respect to the non-U.S. shareholder (and that are not deemed to be capital gain dividends for purposes of the FIRPTA withholding rules described below) unless:

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Return of Capital Distributions. Unless (A) our shares constitute a USRPI, as described in “—Dispositions of Our Shares” below, or (B) either (1) the non-U.S. shareholder’s investment in our shares is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business conducted by such non-U.S. shareholder (in which case the non-U.S. shareholder will be subject to the same treatment as U.S. shareholders with respect to such gain) or (2) the non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien individual who was present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year and has a “tax home” in the United States (in which case the non-U.S. shareholder will be subject to a 30% tax on the individual’s net capital gain for the year), distributions that we make which are not dividends out of our earnings and profits will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax. If we cannot determine at the time a distribution is made whether or not the distribution will exceed current and accumulated earnings and profits, the distribution will be subject to withholding at the rate applicable to dividends. The non-U.S. shareholder may seek a refund from the IRS of any amounts withheld if it subsequently is determined that the distribution was, in fact, in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits. If our shares constitute a USRPI, as described below, distributions that we make in excess of the sum of (1) the non-U.S. shareholder’s proportionate share of our earnings and profits, and (2) the non-U.S. shareholder’s basis in its shares, will be taxed under FIRPTA at the rate of tax, including any applicable capital gains rates, that would apply to a U.S. shareholder of the same type (e.g., an individual or a corporation, as the case may be), and the collection of the tax will be enforced by a refundable withholding tax at a rate of 15% of the amount by which the distribution exceeds the shareholder’s share of our earnings and profits.

Capital Gain Dividends. A distribution paid by us to a non-U.S. shareholder will be treated as long-term capital gain if the distribution is paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits and:

Long-term capital gain that a non-U.S. shareholder is deemed to receive from a capital gain dividend that is not attributable to the sale of USRPIs generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax in the hands of the non-U.S. shareholder unless:

Subject to the discussion below regarding distributions to “qualified shareholders” and “qualified foreign pension funds,” under FIRPTA, distributions that are attributable to net capital gain from the sale by us of USRPIs and paid to a non-U.S. shareholder that owns more than 10% of the value of our shares at any time during the one-year period ending on the date on which the distribution is paid will be subject to U.S. tax as income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. The FIRPTA tax will apply to these distributions whether or not the distribution is designated as a capital gain dividend, and, in the case of a non-U.S. shareholder that is a corporation, such distributions also may be subject to the 30% U.S. branch profits tax.

Subject to the discussion below regarding distributions to “qualified shareholders” and “qualified foreign pension funds,” any distribution paid by us that is treated as a capital gain dividend or that could be treated as a capital

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gain dividend with respect to a particular non-U.S. shareholder will be subject to special withholding rules under FIRPTA. The amount withheld is creditable against the non-U.S. shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability or refundable when the non-U.S. shareholder properly and timely files a tax return with the IRS.

Qualified Shareholders. Subject to the exception discussed below, any distribution to a “qualified shareholder” who holds REIT stock directly (or indirectly through one or more partnerships) will not be subject to U.S. tax under FIRPTA with respect to that REIT stock and thus will not be subject to withholding rules under FIRPTA. If a foreign investor in a “qualified shareholder” directly or indirectly, whether or not by reason of such investor’s ownership interest in the “qualified shareholder,” holds more than 10% of the stock of the REIT, then a portion of the REIT stock held by the “qualified shareholder” (based on the foreign investor’s percentage ownership of the “qualified shareholder”) will be treated as a USRPI in the hands of the “qualified shareholder” and will be subject to FIRPTA.

A “qualified shareholder” is a foreign person that (i) either is eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States that includes an exchange of information program and whose principal class of interests is listed and regularly traded on one or more recognized stock exchanges (as defined in such comprehensive income tax treaty), or is a foreign partnership that is created or organized under foreign law as a limited partnership in a jurisdiction that has an agreement for the exchange of information with respect to taxes with the United States and has a class of limited partnership units representing greater than 50% of the value of all the partnership units that is regularly traded on the NYSE or Nasdaq markets, (ii) is a “qualified collective investment vehicle” (defined below), and (iii) maintains records on the identity of each person who, at any time during the foreign person’s taxable year, is the direct owner of 5% or more of the class of interests or units (as applicable) described in (i), above.

A “qualified collective investment vehicle” is a foreign person that (i) would be eligible for a reduced rate of withholding under the comprehensive income tax treaty described above, even if such entity holds more than 10% of the stock of such REIT, (ii) is publicly traded, is treated as a partnership under the Code, is a withholding foreign partnership, and would be treated as a U.S. real property holding corporation (“USRPHC”) if it were a domestic corporation, or (iii) is designated as such by the Secretary of the Treasury and is either (a) fiscally transparent within the meaning of section 894 of the Code, or (b) required to include dividends in its gross income, but is entitled to a deduction for distributions to its investors.

Qualified Foreign Pension Funds. Any distribution to a “qualified foreign pension fund” or an entity all of the interests of which are held by a “qualified foreign pension fund” who holds REIT stock directly (or indirectly through one or more partnerships) will not be subject to U.S. tax under FIRPTA and thus will not be subject to the withholding rules under FIRPTA.

A qualified foreign pension fund is any trust, corporation, or other organization or arrangement (A) that is created or organized under the law of a country other than the United States, (B) that is 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, (C) that does not have a single participant or beneficiary with a right to more than 5% of its assets or income, (D) that 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 (E) with respect to which, under the laws of the country in which it is established or operates, (i) contributions to such organization or arrangement that would otherwise be subject to tax under such laws are deductible or excluded from the gross income of such entity or taxed at a reduced rate, or (ii) taxation of any investment income of such organization or arrangement is deferred or such income is taxed at a reduced rate.

Undistributed Capital Gain. Although the law is not entirely clear on the matter, it appears that amounts designated by us as undistributed capital gains in respect of our shares held by non-U.S. shareholders generally should be treated in the same manner as actual distributions by us of capital gain dividends. Under this approach,

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the non-U.S. shareholder would be able to offset as a credit against their U.S. federal income tax liability resulting therefrom their proportionate share of the tax paid by us on the undistributed capital gains treated as long-term capital gains to the non-U.S. shareholder, and generally receive from the IRS a refund to the extent their proportionate share of the tax paid by us were to exceed the non-U.S. shareholder’s actual U.S. federal income tax liability on such long-term capital gain. If we were to designate any portion of our net capital gain as undistributed capital gain, a non-U.S. shareholder should consult its tax advisors regarding taxation of such undistributed capital gain.

Dispositions of Our Shares. Unless our shares constitute a USRPI, a sale of our shares by a non-U.S. shareholder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation under FIRPTA.

Generally, subject to the discussion below regarding dispositions by “qualified shareholders” and “qualified foreign pension funds,” with respect to any particular shareholder, our shares will constitute a USRPI only if each of the following three statements is true:

A sale of our shares by a “qualified shareholder” or a “qualified pension fund” that holds our shares directly (or indirectly through one or more partnerships) will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation under FIRPTA. However, if a foreign investor in a “qualified shareholder” directly or indirectly, whether or not by reason of such investor’s ownership interest in the “qualified shareholder,” holds more than 10% of the stock of the REIT, then a portion of the REIT stock held by the “qualified shareholder” (based on the foreign investor’s percentage ownership of the “qualified shareholder”) will be treated as a USRPI in the hands of the “qualified shareholder” and will be subject to FIRPTA.

Specific wash sales rules applicable to sales of shares in a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity could result in gain recognition, taxable under FIRPTA, upon the sale of our shares even if we are a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity. These rules would apply if a non-U.S. shareholder (1) disposes of our shares within a 30-day period preceding the ex-dividend date of a distribution, any portion of which, but for the disposition, would have been taxable to such non-U.S. shareholder as gain from the sale or exchange of a USRPI, and (2) acquires, or enters into a contract or option to acquire, other shares during the 61-day period that begins 30 days prior to such ex-dividend date.

If gain on the sale of our shares is subject to taxation under FIRPTA, the non-U.S. shareholder is required to file a U.S. federal income tax return and is subject to the same treatment as a U.S. shareholder with respect to such gain, subject to any applicable alternative minimum tax and a special alternative minimum tax in the case of non-resident alien individuals, and the purchaser of the shares could be required to withhold 15% of the purchase price and remit such amount to the IRS.

Gain from the sale of our shares that would not otherwise be subject to FIRPTA will nonetheless be taxable in the United States to a non-U.S. shareholder as follows: (1) if the non-U.S. shareholder’s investment in our shares

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is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business conducted by such non-U.S. shareholder, the non-U.S. shareholder will be subject to the same treatment as a U.S. shareholder with respect to such gain, or (2) if the non-U.S. shareholder is a nonresident alien individual who was present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year and has a “tax home” in the United States, the nonresident alien individual will be subject to a 30% tax on the individual’s capital gain.

Legislation Relating to Payments to Certain Foreign Entities. FATCA imposes a 30% withholding tax on certain types of payments made to “foreign financial institutions” and certain other non-U.S. entities unless certain due diligence, reporting, withholding, and certification obligations requirements are satisfied. Investors are advised to consult their tax advisors regarding this legislation. See “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding Tax Applicable to Shareholders—Non-U.S. Shareholders—Withholding on Payments to Certain Foreign Entities.”

Redemption of Preferred Shares and Depositary Shares. See discussion above under “—Taxation of Taxable U.S. Shareholders—Redemption of Preferred Shares and Depositary Shares.” If the redemption does not meet any of the tests described in “—Taxation of Taxable U.S. Shareholders—Redemption of Preferred Shares and Depositary Shares,” then the redemption proceeds received from our shares will be treated as a distribution on our shares as described under “—Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders—Distributions Generally.” If a redemption of shares of is not treated as a distribution taxable as a dividend, it will be treated as a taxable sale or exchange in the manner described under “Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders—Dispositions of Our Shares.”

Conversion of Our Preferred Shares into Class A Common Shares. Except as provided below, a non-U.S. shareholder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon the conversion of our preferred shares into our Class A common shares, provided our preferred shares do not constitute a USRPI. Even if our preferred shares do constitute a USRPI, provided our Class A common shares also constitutes a USRPI, a non-U.S. shareholder generally will not recognize gain or loss upon a conversion of our preferred shares into our Class A common shares provided certain reporting requirements are satisfied. Except as provided below, a non-U.S. shareholder’s basis and holding period in the Class A common shares received upon conversion will be the same as those of the converted preferred shares (but the basis will be reduced by the portion of adjusted tax basis allocated to any fractional share of common stock exchanged for cash). Any Class A common shares received in a conversion that is attributable to accumulated and unpaid dividends on the converted preferred shares will be treated as a distribution on our shares as described under “—Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders—Ordinary Income Dividends.” Cash received upon conversion in lieu of a fractional share of common stock generally will be treated as a payment in a taxable exchange for such fractional share of common stock as described under “—Taxation of Non-U.S. Shareholders—Dispositions of Our Shares.” Non-U.S. shareholders should consult with their tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of any transaction by which such holder exchanges Class A common shares received on a conversion of preferred shares for cash or other property.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding Tax Applicable to Shareholders

U.S. Shareholders—Generally

In general, information reporting requirements will apply to payments of distributions on our shares and payments of the proceeds of the sale of our shares to some U.S. shareholders, unless an exception applies. Further, the payor will be required to withhold backup withholding tax on such payments (currently at the rate of 28%) if:

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Some shareholders may be exempt from backup withholding. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules from a payment to a shareholder will be allowed as a credit against the shareholder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle the shareholder to a refund, provided that the required information is furnished to the IRS.

U.S. Shareholders—Legislation Relating To Foreign Accounts

Under FATCA certain payments made to “foreign financial institutions” and “non-financial foreign entities” may be subject to withholding at a rate of 30%. U.S. shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding the effect, if any, of this legislation on their ownership and disposition of their shares. See “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding Tax Applicable to Shareholders—Non-U.S. Shareholders—Withholding on Payments to Certain Foreign Entities.”

Non-U.S. Shareholders—Generally

Generally, information reporting will apply to payments of distributions on our shares, and 28% backup withholding may apply unless the payee certifies that it is not a U.S. person or otherwise establishes an exemption.

The proceeds from a disposition by a non-U.S. shareholder of shares to or through a foreign office of a broker generally will not be subject to information reporting or backup withholding. However, if the broker is a U.S. person, a controlled foreign corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a foreign person 50% or more of whose gross income from all sources for specified periods is from activities that are effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, a foreign partnership if partners who hold more than 50% of the interest in the partnership are U.S. persons, or a foreign partnership that is engaged in the conduct of a trade or business in the United States, then information reporting generally will apply as though the payment were made through a U.S. office of a U.S. or foreign broker. Generally, backup withholding does not apply in such a case.

Generally, non-U.S. shareholders will satisfy the information reporting requirements by providing a proper IRS withholding certificate (such as the Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E). In the absence of a proper withholding certificate, applicable Treasury Regulations provide presumptions regarding the status of holders of our shares when payments to the holders cannot be reliably associated with appropriate documentation provided to the payor. If a non-U.S. shareholder fails to comply with the information reporting requirement, payments to such person may be subject to the full withholding tax even if such person might have been eligible for a reduced rate of withholding or no withholding under an applicable income tax treaty. Any payment subject to a withholding tax will not be again subject to backup withholding. Because the application of these Treasury Regulations varies depending on the holder’s particular circumstances, a non-U.S. shareholder is advised to consult its tax advisor regarding the information reporting requirements applicable to it.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts that we withhold under the backup withholding rules may be refunded or credited against the non-U.S. shareholder’s federal income tax liability if certain required information is furnished to the IRS. Non-U.S. shareholders should consult their tax advisors regarding application of backup withholding in their particular circumstances and the availability of and procedure for obtaining an exemption from backup withholding under current Treasury Regulations.

Non-U.S. Shareholders—Withholding on Payments to Certain Foreign Entities

FATCA imposes a 30% withholding tax on certain types of payments to “foreign financial institutions” and certain non-U.S. entities unless certain due diligence, reporting, withholding, and certification obligation requirements are satisfied.

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Under the applicable Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance, FATCA imposes a 30% withholding tax on dividends in respect of our shares if paid to a foreign entity unless: (i) the foreign entity is a “foreign financial institution” that undertakes certain due diligence, reporting, withholding, and certification obligations, or in the case of a foreign financial institution that is a resident in a jurisdiction that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement to implement FATCA, the entity complies with the diligence and reporting requirements of such agreement, (ii) the foreign entity is not a “foreign financial institution” and either certifies it does not have any “substantial United States owners” (as defined in the Code) or identifies certain of its U.S. investors, or (iii) the foreign entity otherwise is exempted under FATCA. Proposed Treasury Regulations eliminate FATCA withholding on payments of gross proceeds entirely. Taxpayers generally may rely on these proposed Treasury Regulations until final Treasury Regulations are issued.

If withholding is required under FATCA on a payment related to our shares, investors that otherwise would not be subject to withholding (or that otherwise would be entitled to a reduced rate of withholding) generally will be required to seek a refund or credit from the IRS to obtain the benefit of such exemption or reduction (provided that such benefit is available). Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the effect of FATCA in their particular circumstances.

Taxation of Holders of Our Warrants and Rights

Holders will not generally recognize gain or loss upon the exercise of a warrant. A holder’s basis in the preferred shares, depositary shares representing preferred shares or common shares, as the case may be, received upon the exercise of the warrant will be equal to the sum of the holder’s adjusted tax basis in the warrant and the exercise price paid. A holder’s holding period in the preferred shares, depositary shares representing preferred shares or common shares, as the case may be, received upon the exercise of the warrant will not include the period during which the warrant was held by the holder. Upon the expiration of a warrant, a holder will recognize a capital loss in an amount equal to his or her adjusted tax basis in the warrant. Upon the sale or exchange of a warrant to a person other than us, a holder will recognize gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale or exchange and the holder’s adjusted tax basis in the warrant. Such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the warrant was held for more than one year. Upon the sale of the warrant to us, the IRS may argue that a holder should recognize ordinary income on the sale. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors as to the consequences of a sale of a warrant to us.

In the event of a rights offering, the tax consequences of the receipt, expiration, and exercise of the rights we issue will be addressed in detail in a prospectus supplement. Prospective investors should review the applicable prospectus supplement in connection with the ownership of any rights, and consult their tax advisors as to the consequences of investing in the rights.

Treatment of Depositary Shares

Owners of depositary shares will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as if they are owners of the preferred shares represented by such depositary shares. Accordingly, such owners will be entitled to take into account, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, income and deductions to which they would be entitled if they were holders of such preferred shares. In addition, (i) no gain or loss will be recognized for U.S. federal income tax purposes upon the withdrawal of preferred shares to an exchange owner of depositary shares, (ii) the tax basis of each share of preferred stock to an exchanging owner of depositary shares will, upon such exchange, be the same as the aggregate tax basis of the depositary shares exchanged therefor, and (iii) the holding period for preferred shares in the hands of an exchanging owner of depositary shares will include the period during which such person owned such depositary shares.

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Other Tax Consequences

Legislative or Other Actions Affecting REITs

The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs may be modified, possibly with retroactive effect, by legislative, judicial or administrative action at any time. The REIT rules are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department which may result in statutory changes as well as revisions to regulations and interpretations. Changes to the federal tax laws and interpretations thereof could adversely affect an investment in our shares. Investors should consult with their tax advisors regarding the effect of potential changes to the federal tax laws and on an investment in our shares.

State, Local and Foreign Taxes

We may be required to pay tax in various state or local jurisdictions, including those in which we transact business, and our shareholders may be required to pay tax in various state or local jurisdictions, including those in which they reside. Our state and local tax treatment may not conform to the U.S. federal income tax consequences discussed above. In addition, a shareholder’s state and local tax treatment may not conform to the U.S. federal income tax consequences discussed above. Consequently, investors should consult with their tax advisors regarding the effect of state and local tax laws on an investment in our shares.

Tax Shelter Reporting

If a holder recognizes a loss as a result of a transaction with respect to our shares of at least (i) for a holder that is an individual, S corporation, trust or a partnership with at least one non-corporate partner, $2 million or more in a single taxable year or $4.0 million or more in a combination of taxable years, or (ii) for a holder that is either a corporation or a partnership with only corporate partners, $10 million or more in a single taxable year or $20 million or more in a combination of taxable years, such holder may be required to file a disclosure statement with the IRS on IRS Form 8886. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases exempt from this reporting requirement, but shareholders of a REIT currently are not excepted. The fact that a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Investors should consult their tax advisors to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

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