Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Procedures and Recent Accounting Pronouncements (Policies)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2016

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Procedures and Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Principles of Consolidation

A.  The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Realty Income and other entities for which we make operating and financial decisions (i.e., control), after elimination of all material intercompany balances and transactions.  We consolidate entities that we control and record a noncontrolling interest for the portion that we do not own.  Noncontrolling interest that was created or assumed as part of a business combination was recognized at fair value as of the date of the transaction (see note 10).  We have no unconsolidated investments.

Federal Income Taxes

B.  We have elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. We believe we have qualified and continue to qualify as a REIT. Under the REIT operating structure, we are permitted to deduct dividends paid to our stockholders in determining our taxable income.  Assuming our dividends equal or exceed our taxable net income, we generally will not be required to pay federal corporate income taxes on such income. Accordingly, no provision has been made for federal income taxes in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, except for federal income taxes of our taxable REIT subsidiaries. The income taxes recorded on our consolidated statements of income represent amounts paid by Realty Income for city and state income and franchise taxes.

Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

C.  We recognize an allowance for doubtful accounts relating to accounts receivable for amounts deemed uncollectible. We consider tenant specific issues, such as financial stability and ability to pay rent, when determining collectability of accounts receivable and appropriate allowances to record.  The allowance for doubtful accounts was $1.5 million at June 30, 2016 and $429,000 at December 31, 2015.

Goodwill

D.  We assign a portion of goodwill to our applicable property sales, which results in a reduction of the carrying amount of our goodwill. In order to allocate goodwill to the carrying amount of properties that we sell, we utilize a relative fair value approach based on the original methodology for assigning goodwill.  As we sell properties, our goodwill will likely continue to gradually decrease over time. Based on our analyses of goodwill during the second quarters of 2016 and 2015, we determined there was no impairment on our existing goodwill.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

E.  In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.  This ASU outlines a comprehensive model for companies to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers, and will apply to transactions such as the sale of real estate. This ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017.  We have not yet adopted this topic and do not expect it to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-02, which amends Topic 810, Consolidation.  This ASU amended the criteria used to evaluate whether an entity is a variable interest entity, or VIE, resulting in the conclusion that all limited partnerships are considered VIEs, unless substantive kick-out rights or participating rights exist.  We adopted this ASU during the quarter ended March 31, 2016 and evaluated our applicable entities. The evaluation did not result in changes to our conclusions regarding consolidation of these entities (see note 10).

In April 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-03, which amends Topic 835, Other Presentation Matters. The amendments in this ASU require that debt issuance costs be reported on the balance sheet as a direct reduction of the face amount of the debt instrument they relate to, and should not be classified as a deferred charge, as was previously required under the Accounting Standards Codification. We adopted this ASU during the quarter ended March 31, 2016 and, as a result, reclassified deferred financing costs from other assets, net, to the applicable debt caption on the December 31, 2015 balance sheet.

In February 2016, FASB issued Topic 842, Leases, which amended Topic 840, Leases.  Under this amended topic, the accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from that applied under Topic 840, Leases. The large majority of operating leases should remain classified as operating leases, and lessors should continue to recognize lease income for those leases on a generally straight-line basis over the lease term. The amendments included in this topic are effective, on a retrospective or modified retrospective basis, for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018.  We have not yet adopted this topic and are currently evaluating the impact this amendment will have on our consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-09, which amends Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation.  The FASB issued this ASU to simplify several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, estimation of forfeitures, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The ASU is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. We early adopted this ASU during the quarter ended March 31, 2016 and it did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.