BREIT 2017 Annual Report

54 shares of our common stock or capital stock in excess of the Ownership Limit without the consent of our board of directors will result either in the shares in excess of the limit being transferred by operation of our charter to a charitable trust, and the person who attempted to acquire such excess shares not having any rights in such excess shares, or in the transfer being void. The Ownership Limit may have the effect of precluding a change in control of us by a third party, even if such change in control would be in the best interests of our stockholders or would result in receipt of a premium to the price of our common stock (and even if such change in control would not reasonably jeopardize our REIT status). The exemptions to the ownership limit granted to date may limit our board of directors’ power to increase the ownership limit or grant further exemptions in the future. Non-U.S. holders may be subject to U.S. federal income tax upon their receipt of certain distributions from us or upon their disposition of shares of our common stock. In addition to any potential withholding tax on ordinary dividends, a non-U.S. holder (as such term is defined below under “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations—Taxation of U.S. Holders of Our Common Stock”), other than a “qualified shareholder” or a “qualified foreign pension fund,” that disposes of a “U.S. real property interest” (“USRPI”) (which includes shares of stock of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of USRPIs), or that receives a distribution from a REIT that is attributable to gains from such a disposition, is generally subject to U.S. federal income tax under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, as amended (“FIRPTA”), on the amount received from (or, in the case of a distribution, to the extent attributable to gains from) such disposition. Such tax does not apply, however, to the disposition of stock in a REIT that is “domestically controlled.” Generally, a REIT is domestically controlled if less than 50% of its stock, by value, has been owned directly or indirectly by non-U.S. persons during a continuous five-year period ending on the date of disposition or, if shorter, during the entire period of the REIT’s existence. We cannot assure you that we will qualify as a domestically controlled REIT. If we were to fail to so qualify, amounts received by a non-U.S. holder on certain dispositions of shares of our common stock would be subject to tax under FIRPTA, unless (i) our shares of common stock were regularly traded on an established securities market and (ii) the non-U.S. holder did not, at any time during a specified testing period, hold more than 10% of our common stock. Furthermore, certain distributions by us may be subject to tax under FIRPTA unless the conditions in clauses (i) and (ii) of the immediately preceding sentence are satisfied, subject to certain exceptions. Investments outside the United States may subject us to additional taxes and could present additional complications to our ability to satisfy the REIT qualification requirements. Non-U.S. investments may subject us to various non-U.S. tax liabilities, including withholding taxes. In addition, operating in functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar and in environments in which real estate transactions are typically structured differently than they are in the United States or are subject to different legal rules may present complications to our ability to structure non-U.S. investments in a manner that enables us to satisfy the REIT qualification requirements. We may incur tax liabilities that would reduce our cash available for distribution to you. Even if we qualify and maintain our status as a REIT, we may become subject to U.S. federal income taxes and related state and local taxes. For example, net income from the sale of properties that are “dealer” properties sold by a REIT (a “prohibited transaction” under the Code) will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. Similarly, if we were to fail an income test (and did not lose our REIT status because such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect) we would be subject to tax on the income that does not meet the income test requirements. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our investments and pay income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax. We also may be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, including franchise, payroll, mortgage recording and transfer taxes, either directly or at the level of the other companies through which we indirectly own our assets, such as our taxable REIT subsidiaries, which are subject to full U.S. federal, state, local and foreign corporate-level income taxes. Any taxes we pay directly or indirectly will reduce our cash available for distribution to you. Our board of directors is authorized to revoke our REIT election without stockholder approval, which may cause adverse consequences to our stockholders. Our charter authorizes our board of directors to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that changes to U.S. federal income tax laws and regulations or other considerations mean it is no longer in our best interests to qualify as a REIT. Our board of directors has fiduciary duties to us and our stockholders and could only cause