Income Taxes

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes

12. Income Taxes

We have elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") pursuant to Section 856(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended ("Code"). In order for us to qualify as a REIT, at least 95% of our gross income in any year must be derived from qualifying sources. In addition, a REIT must distribute annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (calculated without any deduction for dividends paid and excluding capital gain) to its shareholders and meet other tests.

Qualification as a REIT involves the satisfaction of numerous requirements (on an annual and quarterly basis) established under highly technical and complex Code provisions for which there are limited judicial or administrative interpretations and involves the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. In addition, frequent changes occur in the area of REIT taxation, which requires us to continually monitor our tax status. We analyzed the various REIT tests and confirmed that we continued to qualify as a REIT for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes at the corporate level on the ordinary taxable income we distribute to our shareholders as dividends. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, our taxable income could be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates. Even if we qualify as a REIT, we may be subject to certain state and local income taxes, as well as U.S. federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income. In addition, taxable income from non-REIT activities managed through taxable REIT subsidiaries is subject to federal, state and local income taxes. We are also subject to local income taxes in Canada, Puerto Rico and the UK due to certain properties located in those jurisdictions. We do not provide for withholding taxes on our undistributed earnings from our Canadian subsidiaries as they are reinvested and will continue to be reinvested indefinitely outside of the U.S. However, we are subject to Australian withholding taxes on distributions from our investment in Ingenia Communities Group. As currently structured, we are not subject to UK withholding taxes on distributions from our UK properties.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities reflect the impact of temporary differences between the amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the basis of such assets and liabilities as measured by tax laws. Deferred tax assets are reduced, if necessary, by a valuation allowance to the amount where realization is more likely than not assured after considering all available evidence. Our temporary differences primarily relate to net operating loss carryforwards, depreciation and basis differences between tax and GAAP. Our deferred tax assets that have a full valuation allowance relate to our taxable REIT subsidiaries. As of March 31, 2023, we had $230.4 million of net deferred tax liabilities, comprised of deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowance of $37.6 million, and deferred tax liabilities of $268.0 million. Additionally, we have $59.0 million of deferred tax liabilities that have been reclassified as real estate held for sale. Refer to Note 3, "Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions," for additional information. The deferred tax liability balance is comprised primarily of basis differences in our foreign investment in properties in the UK and Canada. As of December 31, 2022, we had $308.6 million of net deferred tax liabilities, comprised of deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowance of $49.8 million, and deferred tax liabilities of $340.8 million. The net deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities are recorded within Other assets and Other liabilities, respectively, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

We had no unrecognized tax benefits as of March 31, 2023 and 2022. We do not expect significant changes in tax positions that would result in unrecognized tax benefits within one year of March 31, 2023.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, we recorded current tax expense for federal, state, Canadian, Puerto Rican, and UK income taxes and Australian withholding taxes totaling $3.9 million and $1.3 million, respectively.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, we recorded a deferred tax benefit of $4.6 million.