Certain Tax Matters (a) The parties hereto shall (and shall cause their respective affiliates to) reasonably cooperate with one another in providing information with respect to the Transactions that is reasonably requested by one another and reasonably necessary to enable the parties hereto to (i) determine the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the Transactions to holders of Class A Common Stock, Founder Shares or SPAC Warrants, (ii) prepare disclosure in the Registration Statement regarding such U.S. federal income tax treatment, (iii) prepare U.S. federal income Tax Returns reporting relevant portions of the Transactions consistent with the U.S. federal income tax treatment as mutually agreed by the parties hereto and (iv) respond to requests in connection with any audits, examinations or other proceedings before the IRS relating to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of relevant portions of the Transactions. While the parties hereto do not anticipate that any opinion of counsel with respect to Tax matters will be required to be rendered in connection with the Transactions, the parties hereto agree that in no event will counsel to a party hereto be required to render an opinion regarding the Tax consequences or considerations of any person other than its client or such client’s shareholders or warrantholders immediately prior to the Transactions in their capacity as such.
(b) Any transfer, documentary, sales, use, stamp, registration, excise, recording, registration value added and other similar Taxes (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Taxes imposed under Section 4501 of the Code (as amended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, H.R. 5376) (“Stock Buyback Tax”)) (collectively, “Transfer Taxes”) that become payable by any of the parties hereto in connection with or by reason of the execution of this Agreement and the Transactions shall be borne by the Company. The party hereto responsible for filing any necessary Tax Returns with respect to Transfer Taxes under applicable Law shall cause such Tax Returns to be filed, and if required by applicable Law, the other parties hereto shall join in the execution of any such Tax Returns.
Responsibility for Filing Tax Returns (a) Sellers shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, in a timely manner, all income Tax Returns of each Acquired Company that are due after the Closing with respect to any taxable period ending prior to or ending on and including the Closing Date; provided, however, that any such Tax Return shall be prepared by treating items on that Tax Return in a manner consistent with the prior Tax Returns of each Acquired Company. Sellers shall deliver to Buyer draft copies of each such Tax Return prior to the date for filing that Tax Return. Sellers shall make all changes in each such Tax Return reasonably requested by Buyer. Buyer shall cause each such Tax Return to be appropriately signed and filed, and Sellers shall pay to each Acquired Company any Taxes due from such Acquired Company on that Tax Return.
(b) Buyer shall after the Closing prepare and file, or cause to be prepared and filed, Tax Returns of each Acquired Company for any period beginning prior to the Closing Date and ending after the Closing Date (a “Straddle Period”). Any such Tax Return shall be prepared by treating items on that Tax Return in a manner consistent with the prior Tax Returns of each Acquired Company. Buyer shall deliver to Sellers draft copies of each such Tax Return at least thirty (30) days prior to the date for filing that Tax Return. Buyer shall make all changes in each such Tax Return reasonably requested by Sellers. Sellers shall pay to each Acquired Company the Taxes due for the period prior to and including the Closing Date from such Acquired Company on that Tax Return.
Company Tax Returns The Company shall file all tax returns, if any, required to be filed by the Company.
Other Tax Matters (i) No deficiency with respect to a material amount of Taxes has been proposed, asserted or assessed against the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries and remains unpaid, except for such deficiencies that are being contested, or that will be contested, in each case, in good faith, and, in each case, for which adequate reserves have been established on the books and records of the Company and the Company Subsidiaries in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary is currently the subject of an audit or other examination relating to the payment of material Taxes of the Company or such Company Subsidiary by a Taxing Authority of any nation, state or locality nor has the Company nor any of the Company Subsidiaries received any written notices from any Taxing Authority that such an audit or examination is pending, or that the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries was required to file any Tax Return that was not filed.
(ii) Neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary is presently contesting any material Tax liability of the Company or any Company Subsidiary before any court, tribunal or agency.
(iii) All material Taxes that the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries is (or was) required by Applicable Law to withhold or collect in connection with amounts paid or owing to any employee, independent contractor, creditor, stockholder, member or other third party have been duly withheld or collected, and have been paid over to the proper authorities to the extent due and payable.
(iv) The Company and each of the Company Subsidiaries has complied in all material respects with all information reporting (and related withholding) and record retention requirements.
(v) Neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary has waived any statute of limitations with respect to Taxes nor agreed to any extension of time with respect to a Tax assessment or deficiency.
(vi) There are no liens for material Taxes (except Taxes not yet due and payable) on any of the assets of the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries.
(vii) None of the Company and the Company Subsidiaries is a party to or bound by any closing agreement, private letter rulings, technical advance memoranda, offer in compromise, or any other agreement with any Taxing Authority, in each case that could have a materially adverse effect after the Closing Date.
(viii) Neither the Company nor any of the Company Subsidiaries is a party to or is bound by any Tax sharing, allocation or indemnification agreement or arrangement (other than such an agreement or arrangement exclusively between or among the Company and the Company Subsidiaries).
(ix) Neither the Company nor any of the Company Subsidiaries has been, within the past two years or otherwise as part of a “plan (or series of related transactions)” within the meaning of Section 355(e) of the Code of which the Merger is also a part, a “distributing corporation” or a “controlled corporation” (within the meaning of Section 355(a)(1)(A) of the Code) in a distribution of stock intended to qualify for tax-free treatment under Section 355 of the Code.
(x) Neither the Company nor any of the Company Subsidiaries has participated in a “listed transaction” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Section 1.6011-4(b)(2) or any other transaction requiring disclosure under analogous provisions of state, local or foreign Tax law.
(xi) Neither the Company nor any of the Company Subsidiaries will be required to include any material item of income in, or to exclude any material item of deduction from, taxable income in any taxable period (or portion thereof) ending after the Closing Date as a result of any closing agreement, installment sale or open transaction on or prior to the Closing Date, any accounting method change or agreement with any Taxing Authority, any prepaid amount received on or prior to the Closing Date, any election pursuant to Section 108(i) of the Code (or any corresponding provision of state, local or foreign Tax law) made with respect to any taxable period ending on or prior to the Closing Date, or, to the Knowledge of the Company, any intercompany transaction or excess loss account described in Section 1502 of the Code (or any corresponding provision of state, local or foreign Tax law).
Indemnity for Taxes (a) All payments made by the Issuer to the Funding Agent for the benefit of the Purchasers under this Note Purchase Agreement or any other Transaction Document shall be made free and clear of, and without deduction or withholding for or on account of, any present or future stamp or similar taxes, levies, imposts, duties, charges, fees, deductions or withholdings, now or hereafter imposed, levied, collected, withheld or assessed by any Official Body, excluding (i) taxes that would not have been imposed if the Affected Party had timely complied with the requirements of Section 8.03(b), and (ii) taxes imposed on the net income of the Funding Agent or any other Affected Party, in each case imposed by any jurisdiction under the laws of which the Funding Agent or such Affected Party is organized or any political subdivision or taxing authority thereof or therein (all such nonexcluded taxes, levies, imposts, duties, charges, fees, deductions or withholdings, collectively or individually, “Taxes”). If any such Taxes are required to be withheld from any amounts payable to the Funding Agent or any Affected Party hereunder, the amounts so payable to the Funding Agent or such Affected Party shall be increased to the extent necessary to yield to the Funding Agent or such Affected Party (after payment of all Taxes) all amounts payable hereunder at the rates or in the amounts specified in this Note Purchase Agreement and the other Transaction Documents. The Issuer shall indemnify the Funding Agent or any such Affected Party for the full amount of any such Taxes on the first Settlement Date which is not less than ten (10) days after the date of written demand therefor by the Funding Agent.
(b) Each Affected Party that is a Non-United States Person shall:
(i) deliver to the Issuer and the Funding Agent two duly completed copies of IRS Form W-8 BEN or Form W-8 ECI, or successor applicable form, as the case may be;
(ii) deliver to the Issuer and the Funding Agent two (2) further copies of any such form or certification on or before the date that any such form or certification expires or becomes obsolete and after the occurrence of any event requiring a change in the most recent form previously delivered by it to the Issuer; and
(iii) obtain such extensions of time for filing and complete such forms or certifications as may reasonably be requested by the Issuer or the Funding Agent; unless, in any such case, an event (including, without limitation, any change in treaty, law or regulation) has occurred prior to the date on which any such delivery would otherwise be required which, regardless of the identity of the Affected Party, renders all such forms inapplicable or which, regardless of the identity of the Affected Party, would prevent such Affected Party from duly completing and delivering any such form with respect to it, and such Affected Party so advises the Issuer and the Funding Agent. Each such Affected Party so organized shall certify in the case of an IRS Form W-8 BEN or IRS Form W-8 ECI (or successor applicable form), that it is entitled to receive payments under this Note Purchase Agreement and the other Transaction Documents without deduction or withholding of any United States federal income taxes. Each Affected Party which is a Non-United States Person represents and warrants to the Issuer and the Funding Agent that, as of the date of this Note Purchase Agreement (or the date such Person otherwise becomes an Affected Party, as the case may be), (i) it is entitled to receive all payments hereunder without deduction or withholding for or on account of any United States federal Taxes and (ii) it is permitted to take the actions described in the preceding sentence under the laws and any applicable double taxation treaties of the jurisdiction of its head office or any booking office used in connection with this Note Purchase Agreement. Each Affected Party which is a Non-United States Person further agrees that, to the extent any form claiming complete or partial exemption from withholding and deduction of United States federal Taxes delivered under this clause (b) is found to be incomplete or incorrect in any material respect, such Affected Party shall (to the extent it is permitted to do so under the laws and any double taxation treaties of the United States, the jurisdiction of its organization and the jurisdictions in which its relevant booking offices are located) execute and deliver to each of the Funding Agent and the Issuer a complete and correct replacement form.
Cooperation on Tax Matters (i) Buyer, the Company, and the Interest Owners shall cooperate fully, as and to the extent reasonably requested by the other Party, in connection with the filing of Tax Returns pursuant to this section and any audit, litigation or other proceeding with respect to Taxes. Such cooperation shall include the retention and (upon the other Party’s request) the provision of records and information that are reasonably relevant to any such audit, litigation or other proceeding and making employees available on a mutually convenient basis to provide additional information and explanation of any material provided hereunder. The Interest Owners agree (A) to retain all books and records with respect to Tax matters pertinent to the Company relating to any taxable period beginning before the Closing Date until the expiration of the statute of limitations (and, to the extent notified by Buyer or the Company or Interest Owners, any extensions thereof) of the respective taxable periods, and to abide by all record retention agreements entered into with any taxing authority, and (B) to give Buyer reasonable written notice prior to transferring, destroying or discarding any such books and records and, if Buyer so requests, the Interest Owners shall allow Buyer to take possession of such books and records.
(ii) Buyer, the Company, and the Interest Owners further agree, upon request, to use their best efforts to obtain any certificate or other document from any governmental authority or any other Person as may be necessary to mitigate, reduce or eliminate any Tax that could be imposed (including, but not limited to, with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby).
(iii) Buyer, the Company, and the Interest Owners further agree, upon request, to provide the other Party with all information that either Party may be required to report pursuant to Code §6043 and all Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder.
U.S. Tax Matters (a) The Parties intend that (a) upon completion of the Continuance, the Resulting Issuer is treated as a U.S. domestic corporation under Section 7874 of the Code and (b) the Section 351 Transactions are interdependent steps in a single transaction, to which the Parties are legally committed as provided herein, and to which the Parties intend to treat as a single integrated transaction qualifying as a tax-deferred transaction within the meaning of Section 351 of the Code. Each Party hereto agrees to not take any position on any Tax Return or otherwise take any Tax reporting position inconsistent with the treatment set forth in this Section 2.15, unless otherwise required by applicable Law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties do not make any representation, warranty or covenant to any other Party or to their shareholders or members (and including, without limitation, holders of stock options, warrants, debt instruments or other similar rights or instruments) regarding the U.S. tax treatment of the Business Combination, including, but not limited to, whether the Section 351 Transactions will qualify as a tax-deferred transaction within the meaning of Section 351 of the Code or as tax-deferred transactions for purposes of any United States state or local income tax law.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Contemporaneous Agreements, and any other agreements or documents required or contemplated to be delivered in connection herewith or therewith, to the contrary:
(i) no Transacting Party is permitted to hire employees based in Canada unless immediately after the transactions consummated in connection with the Business Combination, the Resulting Issuer, together with all of its Subsidiaries (including each of the Transacting Parties), would have less than 25% of their employees (by number) based in Canada as determined for purposes of Section 7874 of the Code;
(ii) no Party shall knowingly take any action, cause any action to be taken, fail to take any commercially reasonable action or cause any commercially reasonable action to fail to be taken, which action or failure to act would reasonably be expected to prevent the Section 351 Transactions from qualifying as tax-deferred transactions within the meaning of Section 351 of the Code;
(iii) the number of Resulting Issuer Common Shares to be issued to the SVT Shareholders shall not exceed 15.00% of the stock of the Resulting Issuer as determined under Section 7874 of the Code and the U.S. Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder; and
(iv) if, as a result of the adoption, implementation, promulgation, repeal, modification, amendment or change in applicable Law (including with respect to U.S. Treasury Regulations under Section 7874 of the Code) after the date hereof, upon completion of the Continuance, the Resulting Issuer would not be treated as a U.S. domestic corporation under Section 7874 of the Code, the Parties, upon unanimous agreement, shall take actions as to ensure that the Resulting Issuer is so treated.
Responsibility for Taxes This provision supplements Section 4(d) of the Performance- and Service-Based Restricted Stock Unit Agreement:
(a) The Participant acknowledges that, regardless of any action taken by the Company or, if different, the Service Recipient, the ultimate liability for all income tax, excise tax, social insurance, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax, payment on account or other tax-related items related to the Participant’s participation in the Plan and legally applicable to the Participant (“Tax-Related Items”) is and remains the Participant’s responsibility and may exceed the amount actually withheld by the Company or the Service Recipient. The Participant further acknowledges that the Company and/or the Service Recipient (1) make no representations or undertakings regarding the treatment of any Tax-Related Items in connection with any aspect of the RSUs, including, but not limited to, the grant, vesting or settlement of the RSUs, the subsequent sale of Shares acquired pursuant to such settlement and the receipt of any dividends and/or any dividend equivalents; and (2) do not commit to and are under no obligation to structure the terms of the grant or any aspect of the RSUs to reduce or eliminate the Participant’s liability for Tax-Related Items or achieve any particular tax result. Further, if the Participant is subject to Tax-Related Items in more than one jurisdiction, the Participant acknowledges that the Company and/or the Service Recipient (or former service recipient, as applicable) may be required to withhold or account for Tax-Related Items in more than one jurisdiction.
(b) If the obligation for Tax-Related Items is satisfied by withholding in Shares, for tax purposes, the Participant is deemed to have been issued the full number of Shares subject to the vested RSUs, notwithstanding that a number of the Shares are held back solely for the purpose of satisfying the Withholding Taxes.
(c) Finally, the Participant agrees to pay to the Company or the Service Recipient, any amount of the Withholding Taxes that cannot be satisfied by the means previously described. The Company may refuse to issue or deliver the Shares or the proceeds of the sale of Shares, if the Participant fails to comply with the Participant’s obligations in connection with the Withholding Taxes.
(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or in Section 4(d) of the Performance- and Service-Based Restricted Stock Unit Agreement, if the Company is required by applicable law to use a particular definition of fair market value for purposes of calculating the taxable income for the Participant, the Company shall have the discretion to calculate the Shares to be withheld to cover any Withholding Taxes by using either the price used to calculate the taxable income under applicable law or by using the closing price per Share on the New York Stock Exchange (or other principal exchange on which the Shares then trade) on the trading day immediately prior to the date of delivery of the Shares.
Income Tax Returns Borrower has no knowledge of any pending assessments or adjustments of its income tax payable with respect to any year.
Income Tax Return Information Each Company will provide to the other Company information and documents relating to their respective Groups required by the other Company to prepare Tax Returns. The Responsible Company shall determine a reasonable compliance schedule for such purpose in accordance with Distributing Co.'s past practices. Any additional information or documents the Responsible Company requires to prepare such Tax Returns will be provided in accordance with past practices, if any, or as the Responsible Company reasonably requests and in sufficient time for the Responsible Company to file such Tax Returns on a timely basis.
