Income Taxes

The Company is qualified as a REIT under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. To maintain qualification as a REIT, the Company is required to distribute at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders and meet certain other requirements.

As a REIT, the Company is generally not liable for federal corporate income taxes. If the Company fails to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, the Company will be subject to federal and state income taxes on its taxable income at regular corporate tax rates and it may not be able to qualify as a REIT for four subsequent years. Even if the Company maintains its qualification as a REIT, the Company may be subject to certain state and local taxes on its income and property, and to federal income and excise taxes on its undistributed income. State tax expense was $872 and $1,027 during the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

The Company has also elected taxable REIT subsidiary status for some of its subsidiaries. This enables the Company to receive income and provide services that would otherwise be impermissible for REITs. For these entities, deferred tax assets and liabilities are established for temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities at the enacted tax rates expected to be in effect when the temporary differences reverse. A valuation allowance for deferred tax assets is provided if the Company believes all or some portion of the deferred tax asset may not be realized. An increase or decrease in the valuation allowance resulting from changes in circumstances that may affect the realizability of the related deferred tax asset is included in income or expense, as applicable.

The Company recorded an income tax benefit as follows for the three month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
Current tax benefit	$	2,408		$	636
Deferred tax provision	(1,608		)	(99		)
Income tax benefit	$	800		$	537

The Company had a net deferred tax asset of $6,641 and $5,841 at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. The net deferred tax asset is included in intangible lease assets and other assets. These balances primarily consisted of operating expense accruals and differences between book and tax depreciation.

The Company reports any income tax penalties attributable to its properties as property operating expenses and any corporate-related income tax penalties as general and administrative expenses in its condensed consolidated statements of operations. In addition, any interest incurred on tax assessments is reported as interest expense. The Company reported nominal interest and penalty amounts for the three month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.