Tax Covenants (a) Without the prior written consent of Buyer, Sellers (and, prior to the Closing, the Company, and their Affiliates and their respective Representatives) shall not, to the extent it may affect the Company, change or rescind any Tax election or amend any Tax Return or take any action, omit to take any action or enter into any other transaction that would have the effect of increasing the Tax liability or reducing any Tax asset of Buyer or the Company in respect of any Post-Closing Tax Period.
(b) All transfer, documentary, sales, use, stamp, registration, value added and other such Taxes and fees (including any penalties and interest) incurred in connection with this Agreement, the Assignment and the other Transaction Documents (including any real property transfer Tax and any other similar Tax) shall be borne and paid by Sellers when due. Sellers shall, at its own expense, timely file any Tax Return or other document with respect to such Taxes or fees (and Buyer shall cooperate with respect thereto as necessary).
(c) Sellers shall prepare or cause to be prepared and file or cause to be filed all Tax Returns required to be filed for the Company for all periods ending on or prior to the Closing Date which are filed after the Closing Date, and shall timely pay all Taxes showing as due thereon. Any such Tax Return shall be prepared in a manner consistent with past practice (unless otherwise required by Law) and without a change of any election or any accounting method and shall be submitted by the Sellers to the Buyer (together with schedules, statements and, to the extent requested by the Sellers, supporting documentation) no later than forty-five (45) days prior to the due date thereof, and the Sellers shall permit Buyer to approve each such Tax Return prior to filing, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned, or delayed.
(d) Buyer shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, all Tax Returns required to be filed by the Company after the Closing Date for all Straddle Periods. Any such Tax Return shall be prepared in a manner consistent with past practice (unless otherwise required by Law) and without a change of any election or any accounting method and shall be submitted by Buyer to Sellers (together with schedules, statements and, to the extent requested by Sellers, supporting documentation) at least 30 days prior to the due date (including extensions) of such Tax Return. If any Seller objects to any item on any such Tax Return, it shall, within ten days after delivery of such Tax Return, notify Buyer in writing that it so objects, specifying with particularity any such item and stating the specific factual or legal basis for any such objection. If a notice of objection shall be duly delivered, Buyer and Sellers shall negotiate in good faith and use their reasonable best efforts to resolve such items. If Buyer and Sellers are unable to reach such agreement within ten days after receipt by Buyer of such notice, the disputed items shall be resolved by the Independent Accountant and any determination by the Independent Accountant shall be final. The Independent Accountant shall resolve any disputed items within twenty days of having the item referred to it pursuant to such procedures as it may require. If the Independent Accountant is unable to resolve any disputed items before the due date for such Tax Return, the Tax Return shall be filed as prepared by Buyer and then amended to reflect the Independent Accountant’s resolution. The costs, fees, and expenses of the Independent Accountant shall be borne equally by Buyer and Sellers. The preparation and filing of any Tax Return of the Company that does not relate to a Pre-Closing Tax Period shall be exclusively within the control of Buyer.
General Tax Indemnity Lessee shall pay and discharge or cause to be paid or discharged, within the period for payment permitted by law (and shall, if requested by a Tax Indemnitee, produce to that Tax Indemnitee evidence of the payment and discharge thereof) and indemnify each Tax Indemnitee and keep each Tax Indemnitee fully indemnified at all times from and against all Taxes payable by that Tax Indemnitee at any time in respect of this Agreement, any of Operative Documents, or the Aircraft, the Airframe, any Engine, or any Part or interest therein or in respect of any transaction contemplated by this Agreement or any of the Operative Documents including, without limitation, the purchase (including, without limitation, under the Purchase Agreement), ownership, delivery, redelivery, transport, leasing, subleasing, financing, refinancing, mortgaging, location, registration, use, possession and operation, repair, import to or export from any country, return, storage, maintenance, protection, sale, attempted sale, acceptance, abandonment, rejection or other disposition of the Aircraft, the Airframe, any Engine, or any Part or interest therein, or the rentals, receipts, income or earnings arising from any of the foregoing. The preceding sentence shall not apply to, and Lessee shall have no liability to a Tax Indemnitee pursuant to this Clause 18.2 with respect to the following Taxes (collectively, “Excluded Taxes”):
(a) any Taxes arising with respect to periods after the termination of the leasing of the Aircraft under this Agreement and the return of the Aircraft in compliance with the terms hereof; provided, however, that the exclusion set forth in this subparagraph (a) shall not apply to Taxes relating to events occurring or matters arising on or prior to such time or to Taxes relating to payments made by Lessee to or for the benefit of such Tax Indemnitee under Lessee’s Documents following such time;
(b) any Taxes imposed on such Tax Indemnitee to the extent that such Taxes are directly attributable to any Tax Indemnitee’s gross negligence or willful misconduct or breach by such Tax Indemnitee or any Related Tax Indemnitee of its representations or covenants under any Lessee’s Document provided that, in the case of any Tax Indemnitee that is a Lender or a Related Tax Indemnitee, any Tax indemnification of such person shall (if requested by Lessee) be conditioned on an officer or other authorized signatory of Lessor certifying to Lessee that such Tax is not imposed due to the breach by a Tax Indemnitee or Related Tax Indemnitee of any of its representations, warranties or covenants under the Financing Documents;
(c) any Taxes imposed on such Tax Indemnitee that result from (i) any voluntary or involuntary sale, assignment, transfer or other disposition by such Tax Indemnitee or any Related Tax Indemnitee of any interest in the Aircraft or any part or portion thereof or this Agreement or any Operative Document, including any foreclosure by a creditor of such Tax Indemnitee or any Related Tax Indemnitee; provided, however, this sub-clause (c) shall not apply to Taxes arising or resulting from (t) any transfer of the Aircraft pursuant to the Purchase Agreement or the delivery of the Aircraft pursuant to this Agreement, (u) any transfer resulting from the repair, replacement or maintenance of the Aircraft or any part thereof, (v) any grant of a lien or security interest pursuant to any Financing Document upon or following a re-registration of the Aircraft in any jurisdiction other than the United States provided that Lessee is given at least 5 Business Days notice of such grant (but this subclause (v) shall apply only to the extent such Taxes exceed the amount of Taxes that would have been imposed had the Aircraft been and remained registered in the United States), (w) any transfer by the Lessee, including by reason of a sublease, whether or not permitted hereunder, (x) any sale, assignment, transfer or other disposition occurring in connection with the exercise of remedies hereunder or under any Financing Document while an Event of Default hereunder has occurred and is continuing (or would be continuing but for the exercise of remedies), (y) any loss, damage, destruction, casualty, requisition, seizure or condemnation of all or any part of the Aircraft or (z) while the Aircraft is subleased to any non-U.S. carrier (but this subclause (z) shall apply only to the extent such Taxes exceed the Taxes that would have been imposed had the Aircraft not been so subleased);
(d) any Taxes imposed on such Tax Indemnitee with respect to, or measured by, the net or gross income, capital gain, profits, receipts, capital, net worth, corporate franchise, business activity, conduct of business or privilege to conduct business of such Tax Indemnitee or an Affiliate thereof or in the nature or a minimum income tax, (i) by the United States or any state or local jurisdiction therein (other than by reason of the replacement or substitution of an Engine or any part of the Aircraft) or (ii) by any other jurisdiction except in the case of this clause (ii), Taxes that would not have been imposed but for a connection between such Tax Indemnitee and the jurisdiction imposing the Tax due to any or all of (x) the negotiation, presence, execution or delivery by Lessee, or the enforcement or registration of any of Lessee’s Documents in such other jurisdiction, (y) the presence, use, operation, maintenance, alteration, registration, repair or replacement of the Aircraft or any part thereof in such other jurisdiction, or (z) the presence or organization of Lessee or other user of the Aircraft in, or payment by, or for the benefit of, Lessee of any amount under the Lessee’s Documents from, such other jurisdiction (Taxes described in sub-clauses (x), (y) or (z) above shall be referred to as “Lessee Connection Taxes”);
(e) any Tax other than a Lessee Connection Tax imposed on a Tax Indemnitee as a result of any Tax Indemnitee, any Related Tax Indemnitee or any Affiliate of any Tax Indemnitee (A) being organized in the jurisdiction imposing such Taxes, (B) maintaining or having maintained an office or other place of business in the jurisdiction imposing such Taxes or (C) conducting or having conducted business that is unrelated to the transactions contemplated in the Lessee’s Documents in the jurisdiction imposing such Taxes;
(f) a Tax that would not have been imposed but for a Lessor’s Lien;
(g) any Tax that would not have been imposed but for the existence or status of any trust used to hold title to the Aircraft;
(h) any Tax imposed on a Tax Indemnitee in respect of a “prohibited transaction” within the meaning of Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the regulations issued thereunder, or Section 406 of ERISA or the regulations of the US Department of Labor implementing Section 406 of ERISA other than any such Tax arising as a result of Lessee’s breach of Clause 2.1(p) or 8.5 hereof;
(i) any Tax imposed as a result of any Tax Indemnitee’s or its Affiliate’s, agent’s or advisor’s failure to comply with sections 6111, 6112, 6707, 6707A or 6708 of the Code;
(j) any Tax imposed on (i) a transferee of the interests held by a Tax Indemnitee in the Aircraft or any Operative Documents, or (ii) a transferee of any interest in a Tax Indemnitee, in each case to the extent that, under law in effect on the date of transfer such Tax exceeds the amount of the Tax that would have been imposed on the transferor Tax Indemnitee, provided however that this sub-clause (j) shall not apply to any transfer described in the proviso to clause (c) above;
(k) in the case of any Tax Indemnitee that is a Lender or a Related Tax Indemnitee of a Lender, any Taxes unless such Taxes are subject to indemnification pursuant to the indemnification provisions of the Financing Documents;
(l) a Tax liability of any Tax Indemnitee which would have arisen even if this Lease had not been entered into; and
(m) any Tax arising from the failure of a Tax Indemnitee to comply with any certification or other requirement of the jurisdiction imposing the Tax as a precondition to any exemption from or reduction of such Tax to which such Tax Indemnitee may be entitled; provided such certification or other requirement or compliance therewith would not expose such Tax Indemnitee to any risk of material adverse consequences and further provided that Lessee has notified such Tax Indemnitee or such Tax Indemnitee has otherwise acquired knowledge of the relevant Tax and such certification or other requirement within sufficient time so as to allow such Tax Indemnitee, acting with diligence, to comply with such certification or requirement; provided the exclusions set forth in this Clause 18.2 shall not be interpreted to exclude the making of any payment on an After-Tax Basis.
