Seth Eaton Discusses Modifications and Workouts of Commercial Real Estate Loans during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Along with the broader market, real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and publicly traded partnerships, frequently referred to as master limited partnerships (“MLPs”), have increasingly embraced the principles of...more
Mark Twain once said, “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” Perhaps it is this sentiment (along with returns on investments) that has led to the popularity of real estate investment trusts...more
In a ruling that may impact real estate investment trusts (REITs) with leases that have percentage or contingent rent clauses, the IRS recently changed its prior position that rent paid under a formulaic rent escalation...more
On February 4, 2022, the IRS released a private letter ruling revoking its prior approval of certain lease payments as “rents from real property” for purposes of the REIT income tests....more
Recently proposed IRS regulations reverse the reasoning of several past IRS private letter rulings regarding the application of the $1 million compensation cap of Section 162(m) to UPREIT structures in publicly traded REITs...more
On February 15, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released PLR 201907001 (the “Ruling”), a private letter ruling addressing whether certain income related to the leasing of an oil and gas platform, selling of...more
On September 21, 2017, the IRS announced in Revenue Procedure 2017-52 (the “Pilot Program Rev. Proc.”) that it is expanding the scope of spin-off private letter ruling requests that it will consider. The pilot program is...more
The recently released final regulations are generally consistent with the 2014 proposed regulations in their treatment of renewable energy and transmission assets, with several useful clarifications provided. ...more
On August 31, 2016, the Treasury Department published final regulations (the “Final Regulations”) clarifying the definition of “real property” under the real estate investment trust (“REIT”) rules. The Final Regulations...more
Final regulations establish analytical framework for determining whether assets qualify as real property for purposes of the REIT rules. On August 31, 2016, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)...more
In recent years, a number of public companies have sought to unlock the value embedded in their corporate real estate assets by separating the real estate and other assets into two separate entities – a so-called PropCo/OpCo...more
In the recently released Revenue Procedure 2015-43, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced that it no longer will issue private letter rulings with respect to certain tax-free spin-offs where, immediately after the...more
In issuing IRS Notice 2015-59 and Rev. Proc. 2015-43 last week, the IRS intentionally created significant market uncertainty about the viability of “PropCo/OpCo” spin-offs as part of the PropCo’s REIT conversion (e.g., where...more
On September 14, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2015-59 (the “Notice”) and Revenue Procedure 2015-43 (the “Rev Proc”; together with the Notice, the “Spin-Off Guidance”). Under the Spin-Off Guidance,...more
The IRS has released yet another private letter ruling (Letter 201522002) in the REIT area. This time, the IRS addressed the REIT treatment of income from the rental of outdoor advertising space (i.e., billboards). At issue...more
In order to qualify for the tax advantages available for real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), the majority of a REIT’s assets must qualify as “real property”. As the areas that REITs are investing in continue to grow, we...more
Windstream Holdings, Inc. recently announced plans to spin off its copper, fiber and other fixed real estate assets into an independent publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). Windstream received a private letter...more
On June 6, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Private Letter Ruling 201423011 (the PLR), confirming that income from certain data center services can constitute “rents from real property” for purposes of the...more
In certain recent transactions, a corporation distributes a subsidiary corporation holding the distributing corporation’s real estate assets to the distributing corporation’s shareholders in a tax-free “spin-off.” Not only...more
On May 9, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of the Treasury issued proposed regulations (the Proposed Regulations) under Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) to clarify the definition of...more
On May 14, 2014, the Treasury Department published proposed regulations (the “Proposed Regulations”) clarifying the definition of “real property” under the real estate investment trust (“REIT”) rules. The issuance of the...more
Recently it has become standard operating procedure for the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to declare moratoriums on the issuance of private letter rulings (“PLR”) in certain areas. These temporary (or, in certain cases,...more
A significant amount of press attention has been given to an unusual press release filed with the SEC yesterday by Iron Mountain regarding its planned conversion to a real estate investment trust (REIT). Iron Mountain said...more