Income Taxes (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Income Taxes [Text Block]

3. INCOME TAXES

Rayonier is a real estate investment trust ("REIT"). In general, only the taxable REIT subsidiaries, whose businesses include the Company's non-REIT qualified activities, are subject to corporate income taxes. However, the Company is subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax on built-in gains (the excess of fair market value over tax basis for property held upon REIT election at January 1, 2004) on taxable sales of such property during calendar years 2004 through 2010 and 2012 through 2013. In 2011, the law provided a built-in-gains tax holiday. Accordingly, the provision for corporate income taxes relates principally to current and deferred taxes on taxable REIT subsidiaries' income and certain property sales.

The Company's effective tax rate is below the 35 percent U.S. statutory tax rate primarily due to tax benefits associated with being a REIT. Effective tax rates were 25.9 percent and 21.7 percent for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The higher tax rate in 2012 was due to proportionately higher expected earnings from our taxable REIT subsidiaries.