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Income Taxes
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes
Income Taxes
The Company has elected and has operated so as to qualify to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, commencing with the tax year ended December 31, 2005. So long as it qualifies as a REIT, the Company generally will not be subject to federal income tax on taxable income that is distributed to stockholders. A REIT is subject to a number of organizational and operational requirements including a requirement that it currently distribute at least 90% of its REIT taxable income (subject to certain adjustments) to its stockholders (the “90% Distribution Test”). If the Company fails to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, without the benefit of certain relief provisions, the Company will be subject to federal and state income tax on its taxable income at regular corporate tax rates. Even if the Company qualifies for taxation as a REIT, the Company may be subject to certain state and local taxes on its income, property or net worth and federal income and excise taxes on its undistributed income. In addition, the Company owns substantially all of the outstanding stock of a subsidiary REIT, MB REIT (Florida), Inc. (“MB REIT”), which the Company consolidates for financial reporting purposes but which is treated as a separate REIT for federal income tax purposes.
The Company has identified certain distribution and stockholder reimbursement practices that may have caused certain dividends to be treated as preferential dividends, which cannot be used to satisfy the 90% Distribution Requirement. The Company has also identified the ownership of certain assets that may have violated a REIT qualification requirement that prohibits a REIT from owning "securities" of any one issuer in excess of 5% of the REIT's total assets at the end of any calendar quarter (the "5% Securities Test"). In order to provide greater certainty with respect to the Company's qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, management concluded that it was in the best interest of the Company and its stockholders to request closing agreements from the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") for both the Company and MB REIT with respect to such matters. Accordingly, on October 31, 2012, MB REIT filed a request for a closing agreement with the IRS. Additionally, the Company filed a separate request for a closing agreement on its own behalf on March 7, 2013.
The Company identified certain aspects of the calculation of certain dividends on MB REIT's preferred stock and also aspects of the operation of certain "set aside" provisions with respect to accrued but unpaid dividends on certain classes of MB REIT's preferred stock that may have caused certain dividends to be treated as preferential dividends. In the case of the Company, management identified certain aspects of the operation of the Company's dividend reinvestment plan and distribution procedures and also certain reimbursements of stockholder expenses that may have caused certain dividends to be treated as preferential dividends. If these practices resulted in preferential dividends, the Company and MB REIT would not have satisfied the 90% Distribution Requirement and thus may not have qualified as REITs, which would result in substantial corporate tax liability for the years in which the Company or MB REIT failed to qualify as a REIT.
In addition, the Company and MB REIT made certain overnight investments in bank commercial paper. While the Internal Revenue Code does not provide a specific definition of “cash item”, the Company believes that overnight commercial paper should be treated as a “cash item”, which is not treated as a “security” for purposes of the 5% Securities Test. If treated as a "security", the bank commercial paper would appear to have represented more than 5% of the Company's and MB REIT's total assets at the end of certain calendar quarters. In the event this commercial paper is treated as a "security", the Company anticipates that it would be required to pay corporate income tax on the income earned with respect to the portion of the commercial paper that violated the 5% Securities Test.
The Company can provide no assurance that the IRS will accept the Company's or MB REIT's closing agreement requests. Even if the IRS accepts those requests, the Company and MB REIT may be required to pay a penalty. The Company cannot predict whether such a penalty would be imposed or, if so, the amount of the penalty. The Company believes that (i) the IRS will enter into closing agreements with the Company and MB REIT and (ii) the business manager may be liable, in whole or in part, for any penalty imposed in connection with those closing agreements. As noted above, the Company can provide no assurance that the IRS will enter into closing agreements with the Company and MB REIT or that the Company and MB REIT will not be liable for any penalty imposed in connection with those closing agreements. Management believes based on the currently available information, that such penalty, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on the financial statements of the Company.    
The Company has elected to treat certain of its consolidated subsidiaries, and may in the future elect to treat newly formed subsidiaries, as taxable REIT subsidiaries pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code. Taxable REIT subsidiaries may participate in non-real estate related activities and/or perform non-customary services for tenants and are subject to federal and state income tax at regular corporate tax rates. The Company's hotels are leased to certain of the Company's taxable REIT subsidiaries. Lease revenue from these taxable REIT subsidiaries and its wholly-owned subsidiaries is eliminated in consolidation. For the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, an income tax expense of $2,221 and $2,030 was included on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.