The Company elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code, commencing with its taxable year ended December 31, 1983. To qualify as a REIT, the Company must meet a number of organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that it currently distribute at least 90% of its ordinary taxable income to its stockholders. As a REIT, the Company generally will not be subject to corporate level federal, state and local income tax on taxable income it distributes currently to its stockholders. If the Company fails to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, it will be subject to federal, state and local income taxes at regular corporate rates (including any applicable alternative minimum tax) and may not be able to qualify as a REIT for four subsequent taxable years. It is management’s current intention to adhere to these requirements and maintain the Company’s REIT status.

Even though the Company qualifies for taxation as a REIT, the Company is subject to certain state and local taxes on its income and property, and to federal income and excise taxes on its undistributed taxable income. As of December 31, 2021, tax returns for the calendar years 2018 through 2021 remain subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and various state and local tax jurisdictions.

During 2021, 2020 and 2019, the Company did not incur any federal income tax expense. The Company does not have any deferred tax assets or liabilities at December 31, 2021 and 2020.

The approximate allocation of the distributions made to stockholders is as follows for the years indicated:

(a)	In 2021, 2020 and 2019, the ordinary income portion of the distributions are considered qualified REIT dividends and will be taxed at a rate reduced by up to 20% pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 199A.

The Company treats depreciation expense, straight-line rent adjustments and certain other items differently for tax purposes than for financial reporting purposes. Therefore, its taxable income and dividends paid deduction differs from its financial statement income.

The following table reconciles dividends declared with the dividends paid deduction for the years indicated (amounts in thousands):


	2021		2020		2019
	Estimate		Actual		Actual
Dividends declared	$	37,478	$	36,564	$	35,663
Dividend reinvestment plan (a)		35		47		247
		37,513		36,611		35,910
Less: Spillover dividends designated to previous year		—		—		—
Less: Spillover dividends designated to following year (b)		(2,150)		(9,261)		(8,976)
Less: Return of capital		—		(3,265)		(9,842)
Plus: Dividends designated from prior year		9,261		8,976		549
Plus: Dividends designated from following year		—		—		—
Dividends paid deduction	$	44,624	$	33,061	$	17,641

(a)	Reflects the discount on common stock purchased through the dividend reinvestment plan of (i) 3% in 2021 and (ii) 5% in 2020 and 2019.

(b)	A portion of the dividend paid in January 2022, and the entire dividend paid in January 2021 and January 2020 are considered 2022, 2021 and 2020 dividends, respectively, as such dividends were in excess of the Company’s earnings and profits during 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.