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Income Taxes
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes

Note 7: Income Taxes

We believe that we are organized in conformity with, and operate in a manner that will allow us to elect to be taxed as a REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes for our tax year ending December 31, 2017, and we expect to continue to be organized and operate so as to qualify as a REIT. To qualify as a REIT, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the real estate qualification of sources of our income, the real estate composition and values of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the diversity of ownership of our stock.  To the extent we qualify as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on taxable income generated by our REIT activities that we distribute to our stockholders. Accordingly, no provision for U.S. federal income taxes has been included in our accompanying condensed combined consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2017 related to our REIT activities, other than the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities discussed below.

We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on taxable sales of built-in gain property (representing property with an excess of fair value over tax basis held by us on January 4, 2017) during the five-year period following our election to be taxed as a REIT.  In addition, we are subject to non-U.S. income tax on foreign held REIT activities. Further, our taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”) are generally subject to U.S. federal, state and local, and foreign income taxes (as applicable).

We recognized income tax benefits for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017 of approximately $48 million and $2,360 million, respectively, primarily as a result of the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities associated with our intention to be taxed as a REIT.

Through January 3, 2017, we had been included in the consolidated U.S. federal income tax return of Hilton, as well as certain state tax returns where Hilton filed on a consolidated or combined basis, and foreign tax filings, as applicable. For purposes of our historical condensed combined consolidated balance sheets, we have recorded deferred tax balances as if we filed tax returns on a stand-alone basis separate from Hilton, but not as a REIT. The separate return method applies the accounting guidance for income taxes to the stand-alone financial statements as if we were a separate taxpayer and a standalone enterprise for the periods presented. The calculation of our income taxes on a separate return basis required considerable judgment and use of both estimates and allocations. We believe that the assumptions and estimates used to determine these tax amounts were reasonable. However, our historical condensed combined consolidated balance sheets may not necessarily reflect what our tax liability would have been if we were a stand-alone enterprise during the periods presented.