Income Taxes	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Income Taxes
Income Taxes	Note 17 — Income Taxes As a REIT, we are generally not subject to U.S. federal income tax to the extent of our distributions to stockholders and as long as certain asset, income, distribution, ownership and administrative tests are met. To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must annually distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders and meet certain other requirements. We may also be subject to certain state, local and franchise taxes. Under certain circumstances, federal income and excise taxes may be due on our undistributed taxable income. If we were to fail to meet these requirements, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax, which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and amounts available for distributions to our stockholders. We believe that all of the criteria to maintain our REIT qualification have been met for the applicable periods, but there can be no assurance that these criteria will continue to be met in subsequent periods. The Agency Business is operated through our TRS Consolidated Group and is subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes. In general, our TRS entities may hold assets that the REIT cannot hold directly and may engage in real estate or non-real estate-related business. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Reform”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. Among numerous provisions included in the new tax law was the reduction of the corporate federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Our provision for income taxes in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 reflects the newly enacted corporate federal income tax rate of 21%. The final impact of the Tax Reform may differ due to, and among other things, changes in interpretations, assumptions made by us, the issuance of additional guidance and actions we may take as a result of the Tax Reform. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a tax provision of $5.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded a tax provision of $6.7 million and $16.2 million, respectively. The provision for income taxes recorded in the three months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of a current tax provision of $6.7 million and a deferred tax benefit of $1.3 million. The tax provision recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of a current tax provision of $15.6 million and a deferred tax benefit of $14.5 million. The deferred tax benefit recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was due primarily to our payoff in January 2018 of the $50.0 million preferred equity interest entered into with ACM to finance a portion of the Acquisition purchase price. When we entered into the Acquisition, we established a deferred tax liability in connection with the $50.0 million preferred equity interest. Upon payoff in January 2018, the deferred tax liability was written off. See Note 10 - Debt Obligations for details. The provision for income taxes recorded in the three months ended September 30, 2017 consisted of a current tax provision of $7.6 million and a deferred tax benefit of $0.9 million. The provision for income taxes recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2017 consisted of a current tax provision of $16.2 million. Current and deferred taxes are primarily recorded on the portion of earnings (losses) recognized by us with respect to our interest in the TRS’s. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are calculated based on temporary differences between our U.S. GAAP consolidated financial statements and the federal, state, local tax basis of assets and liabilities as of the consolidated balance sheets.

Note 17 — Income Taxes

As a REIT, we are generally not subject to U.S. federal income tax to the extent of our distributions to stockholders and as long as certain asset, income, distribution, ownership and administrative tests are met. To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must annually distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders and meet certain other requirements. We may also be subject to certain state, local and franchise taxes. Under certain circumstances, federal income and excise taxes may be due on our undistributed taxable income. If we were to fail to meet these requirements, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax, which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and amounts available for distributions to our stockholders. We believe that all of the criteria to maintain our REIT qualification have been met for the applicable periods, but there can be no assurance that these criteria will continue to be met in subsequent periods.

The Agency Business is operated through our TRS Consolidated Group and is subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes. In general, our TRS entities may hold assets that the REIT cannot hold directly and may engage in real estate or non-real estate-related business.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Reform”) was signed into law on December 22, 2017. Among numerous provisions included in the new tax law was the reduction of the corporate federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%. Our provision for income taxes in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 reflects the newly enacted corporate federal income tax rate of 21%. The final impact of the Tax Reform may differ due to, and among other things, changes in interpretations, assumptions made by us, the issuance of additional guidance and actions we may take as a result of the Tax Reform.

In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, we recorded a tax provision of $5.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively. In the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded a tax provision of $6.7 million and $16.2 million, respectively. The provision for income taxes recorded in the three months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of a current tax provision of $6.7 million and a deferred tax benefit of $1.3 million. The tax provision recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 consisted of a current tax provision of $15.6 million and a deferred tax benefit of $14.5 million. The deferred tax benefit recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2018 was due primarily to our payoff in January 2018 of the $50.0 million preferred equity interest entered into with ACM to finance a portion of the Acquisition purchase price. When we entered into the Acquisition, we established a deferred tax liability in connection with the $50.0 million preferred equity interest. Upon payoff in January 2018, the deferred tax liability was written off. See Note 10 - Debt Obligations for details. The provision for income taxes recorded in the three months ended September 30, 2017 consisted of a current tax provision of $7.6 million and a deferred tax benefit of $0.9 million. The provision for income taxes recorded in the nine months ended September 30, 2017 consisted of a current tax provision of $16.2 million.

Current and deferred taxes are primarily recorded on the portion of earnings (losses) recognized by us with respect to our interest in the TRS’s. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are calculated based on temporary differences between our U.S. GAAP consolidated financial statements and the federal, state, local tax basis of assets and liabilities as of the consolidated balance sheets.