Form 8612

(Rev. November 2022) 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service

Return of Excise Tax on Undistributed Income of 

Real Estate Investment Trusts 

For calendar year 20 

Go to www.irs.gov/Form8612 for instructions and the latest information.

OMB No. 1545-1013 

Please 

Type 

or 

Print 

Name of REIT Employer identification number 

Number, street, and room or suite no. If a P.O. box, see instructions. 

City or town, state, and ZIP code 

Required Distribution 

1 a Taxable income under section 857(b)(2) for the calendar year. 

See instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1a 

b Multiply line 1a by 85% (0.85) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1b 

2 a Capital gain net income under section 4981(e)(2) for the 

calendar year. See instructions . . . . . . . . . . . 2a 

b Multiply line 2a by 95% (0.95) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2b 

3 a Grossed up required distribution for the previous calendar year. 

See instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3a 

b Distributed amount for the previous calendar year under section 

4981(c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3b 

c Subtract line 3b from line 3a. If zero or less, enter -0- . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3c 

4 Required distribution. Add lines 1b, 2b, and 3c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Distributed Amount 

5 Deduction for dividends paid under section 561 during the calendar year. See instructions . 5 

6 Amount on which tax is imposed under sections 857(b)(1) or (b)(3)(A) for any tax year ending 

in or with the calendar year. See instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

7 a Distributed amount for the previous calendar year under section 

4981(c). Enter amount from line 3b above . . . . . . . 7a 

b Grossed up required distribution for the previous calendar year. 

Enter amount from line 3a above . . . . . . . . . . 7b 

c Subtract line 7b from line 7a. If zero or less, enter -0- . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7c 

8 Distributed amount. Add lines 5, 6, and 7c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Tax and Payments 

9 Undistributed income. Subtract line 8 from line 4. If zero or less, enter -0- . . . . . . 9 

10 Excise tax on undistributed income. Multiply line 9 by 4% (0.04) . . . . . . . . . . 10 

11 Tax paid with extension of time to file (Form 7004) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

12 Tax due. Subtract line 11 from line 10. See instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

13 Overpayment. Subtract line 10 from line 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Sign 

Here 

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge 

and belief, it is true, correct, and complete. Declaration of preparer (other than taxpayer) is based on all information of which preparer has any knowledge.

Signature of officer Date Title 

Paid 

Preparer 

Use Only

Print/Type preparer’s name Preparer’s signature Date Check if 

self-employed

PTIN

Firm’s name 

Firm’s address 

Firm’s EIN 

Phone no.

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see instructions. Cat. No. 64121U Form 8612 (Rev. 11-2022) 
Form 8612 (Rev. 11-2022) Page 2 

General Instructions 

Section references are to the Internal Revenue 

Code. 

Purpose of Form 

Form 8612 is used by real estate investment 

trusts (REITs) to figure and pay the excise tax on 

undistributed income under section 4981. The 

excise tax is 4% of the excess, if any, of the 

required distribution over the distributed amount. 

Who Must File 

Any REIT that is liable for the excise tax on 

undistributed income under section 4981 must 

file Form 8612. 

When and Where To File 

File Form 8612 by March 15th following the 

calendar year to which the excise tax liability 

applies. File it with the Department of the 

Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, 

Cincinnati, OH 45999. 

If more time is needed, use Form 7004, 

Application for Automatic Extension of Time To 

File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, 

and Other Returns. However, Form 7004 does 

not extend the time for payment of tax. 

Who Must Sign 

Form 8612 must be signed and dated by the 

president, vice president, treasurer, assistant 

treasurer, or chief accounting officer, or by any 

other officer (such as tax officer) authorized to 

sign. Receivers, trustees, or assignees must sign 

and date any return that they are required to file 

on behalf of the REIT. 

Rounding Off to Whole Dollars 

The REIT may show amounts on the return as 

whole dollars. To do so, drop any amount less 

than 50 cents and increase any amount from 50 

cents through 99 cents to the next dollar. 

Interest and Penalties 

Interest. Interest is charged on taxes paid late 

even if an extension of time to file is granted. 

Interest is also charged on penalties imposed for 

failure to file, negligence, fraud, and substantial 

understatements of tax from the due date 

(including extensions) to the date of payment. 

The interest charge is figured at a rate 

determined under section 6621. 

Late payment of tax. A REIT that doesn’t pay 

the tax when due may be charged a penalty for 

the failure to pay tax. The amount of the penalty 

is 1⁄2 of 1% of the unpaid tax for each month or 

part of the month the tax is not paid, up to a 

maximum of 25% of the unpaid tax. This penalty 

won’t be imposed if the REIT can show that the 

failure to pay on time was due to reasonable 

cause. 

Late filing of return. A REIT that doesn’t file its 

tax return by the due date, including extensions, 

may be penalized 5% of the unpaid tax for each 

month or part of a month the return is late, up to 

a maximum of 25% of the unpaid tax. The 

penalty won’t be imposed if the REIT can show 

that the failure to file on time was due to 

reasonable cause. REITs that file late should 

send an explanation of reasonable cause after 

receiving a notice from the IRS. Do not attach an 

explanation when the return is filed. 

Other penalties. Other penalties can be 

imposed for negligence, substantial 

understatements of tax, reportable transaction 

understatements, and fraud. See sections 6662, 

6662A, and 6663. 

Amended Return 

To amend a previously filed Form 8612, file a 

corrected Form 8612 and write “Amended” at the 

top of the form. 

Specific Instructions 

Period covered. Fill in the space at the top of 

the form to show the calendar year for which this 

return is filed. The REIT is required to figure its 

undistributed income on a calendar year basis 

even though it may file its income tax return and 

keep its books and records on a fiscal year basis.

Address. Include the suite, room, or other unit 

number after the street address. If the Post 

Office does not deliver mail to the street address 

and the REIT has a P.O. box, show the box 

number instead. 

If the REIT receives its mail in care of a third 

party (such as an accountant or an attorney), 

enter on the street address line “C/O” followed 

by the third party’s name and street address or 

P.O. box. 

Line 1a. Refigure real estate investment trust 

taxable income, treating the calendar year as the 

REIT’s tax year. When refiguring this amount, 

exclude the deduction for dividends paid and any 

gain or loss from the sale or exchange of a 

capital asset. Include adjustments that result in 

the distribution of deficiency dividends (defined 

in section 860(f)) for the year in which the 

dividends are paid. Also, include the REIT’s 

share of partnership ordinary income (loss) and 

deductions when they are taken into account by 

the partnership. For details and exceptions, see 

Rev. Rul. 94-40, 1994-1 C.B. 274; and Rev. Proc. 

94-71, 1994-2 C.B. 810. 

Line 2a. To determine capital gain net income, 

figure the excess, if any, of the gains over the 

losses from the sale or exchange of capital 

assets, determined by treating the calendar year 

as the REIT’s tax year. Reduce the result by the 

REIT’s net ordinary loss (as defined in section 

4981(e)(2)(C)), if any, for the calendar year. 

Include adjustments that result in the distribution 

of deficiency dividends (defined in section 860(f)) 

and that affect capital gain net income for the 

year in which the dividends are paid. Also, 

include the REIT’s share of partnership items that 

affect capital gain net income when they are 

taken into account by the partnership. For details 

and exceptions, see Rev. Rul. 94-40 and Rev. 

Proc. 94-71. 

Line 3a. Add lines 1a and 2a using amounts for 

the previous calendar year, increased by the 

prior year’s shortfall, if any, as defined in section 

4981(b)(2). 

Line 5. Enter the deduction for dividends paid (as 

defined in section 561) during the current 

calendar year figured without regard to the 

dividends paid, if any, attributable to net income 

from foreclosure property. Include deficiency 

dividends (defined in section 860(f)) paid during 

the calendar year. Also, include dividends

declared in October, November, or December 

but only if they were actually paid by the REIT 

during January of the following calendar year. 

See section 857(b)(9). Do not include on this line 

any other dividends paid after the close of the

calendar year. 

Line 6. Line 6 is the total of the following 

amounts figured for the tax year of the REIT 

ending in or with the calendar year for which this 

excise tax return is filed. 

1. Real estate investment trust taxable income 

from Form 1120-REIT, Part I, line 22. 

2. Undistributed capital gains designated 

under section 857(b)(3)(D) from Form 2438, line 

11. 

Line 12. The REIT must use electronic funds 

transfers to make all federal tax deposits (such 

as deposits of employment tax, excise tax, and 

corporate income tax). Generally, electronic 

funds transfers are made using the Electronic 

Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). However, 

if you don’t want to use EFTPS, you can arrange 

for your tax professional, financial institution, 

payroll service, or other trusted third party to 

make deposits on your behalf. EFTPS is a free 

service provided by the Department of the 

Treasury. Services provided by your tax 

professional, financial institution, payroll service, 

or other third party may have a fee.

For more information about EFTPS, or to enroll 

in EFTPS, visit the EFTPS website at 

www.eftps.gov or call 800-555-4477. To contact 

EFTPS using Telecommunications Relay 

Services (TRS) for people who are deaf, hard of 

hearing, or have a speech disability, dial 711 and 

then provide the TRS assistant the 800-555-4477 

number above or 800-733-4829. 

Depositing on time. For any deposit made by 

EFTPS to be on time, the REIT must submit the 

deposit by 8 p.m. Eastern time on the day before 

the date the deposit is due. If the REIT uses a 

third party to make the deposits on its behalf, 

they may have different cutoff times.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for 

the information on this form to carry out the 

Internal Revenue laws of the United States. You 

are required to give us the information. We need 

it to ensure that you are complying with these 

laws and to allow us to figure and collect the 

right amount of tax. 

You are not required to provide the 

information requested on a form that is subject 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the form 

displays a valid OMB control number. Books or 

records relating to a form or its instructions must 

be retained as long as their contents may 

become material in the administration of any 

Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and 

return information are confidential, as required by 

section 6103. 

The time needed to complete and file this form 

will vary depending on individual circumstances. 

The estimated average time is: 

Recordkeeping . . . . . 6 hr., 13 min. 

Learning about the 

law or the form . . . . . . 1 hr., 40 min. 

Preparing and 

sending the form 

to the IRS . . . . . . 1 hr., 52 min. 

If you have comments concerning the 

accuracy of these time estimates or suggestions 

for making this form simpler, we would be happy 

to hear from you. You can send us comments 

from www.irs.gov/FormComments. Or you can 

write to the Internal Revenue Service, Tax Forms 

and Publications, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, 

IR-6526, Washington, DC 20224. Do not send 

the form to this address. Instead, see When and 

Where To File, earlier.