(a) Revocation of an election to be a real estate investment trust. A corporation, trust, or association that has made an election under section 856(c)(1) to be a real estate investment trust may revoke the election for any taxable year after the first taxable year for which the election is effective. The revocation must be made by filing a statement with the district director for the internal revenue district in which the taxpayer maintains its principal place of business or principal office or agency. The statement must be filed on or before the 90th day after the first day of the first taxable year for which the revocation is to be effective. The statement must be signed by an official authorized to sign the income tax return of the taxpayer and must—

(1) Contain the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the taxpayer,

(2) Specify the taxable year for which the election was made, and

(3) Include a statement that the taxpayer, pursuant to section 856(g)(2), revokes its election under section 856(c)(1) to be a real estate investment trust.

(b) Termination of election to be a real estate investment trust. An election of a corporation, trust, or association under section 856(c)(1) to be a real estate investment trust shall terminate if the corporation, trust, or association is not a qualified real estate investment trust for any taxable year (including the taxable year with respect to which the election is made) beginning after October 4, 1976. (This election terminates whether the failure to be a qualified real estate investment trust is intentional or inadvertent.) The term “taxable year” includes a taxable year of less than 12 months for which a return is made under section 443. The termination of the election is effective for the first taxable year beginning after October 4, 1976, for which the corporation, trust, or association is not a qualified real estate investment trust and for all succeeding taxable years.

(c) Restrictions on election after termination or revocation—(1) General rule. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, if a corporation, trust, or association has made an election under section 856(c)(1) to be a real estate investment trust and the election has been terminated or revoked under section 856(g)(1) or (2), the corporation, trust, or association (and any successor corporation, trust, or association) is not eligible to make a new election under section 856(c)(1) for any taxable year prior to the fifth taxable year which begins after the first taxable year for which the termination or revocation is effective.

(2) Successor corporation. The term “successor corporation, trust, or association”, as used in section 856(g)(3), means a corporation, trust, or association which meets both a continuity of ownership requirement and a continuity of assets requirement with respect to the corporation, trust, or association whose election has been terminated under section 856(g)(1) or revoked under section 856(g)(2). A corporation, trust, or association meets the continuity of ownership requirement only if at any time during the taxable year the persons who own, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more in value of its outstanding shares owned, at any time during the first taxable year for which the termination or revocation was effective, 50 percent or more in value of the outstanding shares of the corporation, trust, or association whose election has been terminated or revoked. A corporation, trust, or association meets the continuity of assets requirement only if either (i) a substantial portion of its assets were assets of the corporation, trust, or association whose election has been revoked or terminated, or (ii) it acquires a substantial portion of the assets of the corporation, trust, or association whose election has been terminated or revoked.

(3) Effective date. Section 856(g)(3) does not apply to the termination of an election that was made by a taxpayer pursuant to section 856(c)(1) on or before October 4, 1976, unless the taxpayer is a qualified real estate investment trust for a taxable year ending after October 4, 1976, for which the pre-October 5, 1976, election is in effect. For example, assume that Trust X, a calendar year taxpayer, files a timely election under section 856(c)(1) with respect to its taxable year 1974, and is a qualified real estate investment trust for calendar years 1974 and 1975. Assume further that Trust X is not a qualified real estate investment trust for 1976 and 1977 because it willfully fails to meet the asset diversification requirements of section 856(c)(5) for both years. The failure (whether or not willful) to meet these requirements in 1977 terminates the election to be a real estate investment trust made with respect to 1974. (See paragraph (b) of this section.) The termination is effective for 1977 and all succeeding taxable years. However, under section 1608(d)(3) of the Tax Reform Act of 1976, Trust X is not prohibited by section 856(g)(3) from making a new election under section 856(c)(1) with respect to 1978.

(d) Exceptions. Section 856(g)(4) provides an exception to the general rule of section 856(g)(3) that the termination of an election to be a real estate investment trust disqualifies the corporation, trust, or association from making a new election for the 4 taxable years following the first taxable year for which the termination is effective. This exception applies where the corporation, trust, or association meets the requirements of section 856(g)(4)(A), (B) and (C) (relating to the timely filing of a return, the absence of fraud, and reasonable cause, respectively) for the taxable year with respect to which the termination of election occurs. In order to meet the requirements of section 856(g)(4)(C), the corporation, trust, or association must establish, to the satisfaction of the district director for the internal revenue district in which the corporation, trust, or association maintains its principal place of business or principal office or agency, that its failure to be a qualified real estate investment trust for the taxable year in question was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. The principles of § 1.856-7(c) (including the principles relating to expert advice) will apply in determining whether, for purposes of section 856(g)(4), the failure of a corporation, trust, or association to be a qualified real estate investment trust for a taxable year was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. Thus, for example, the corporation, trust, or association must exercise ordinary business care and prudence in attempting to meet the status conditions of section 856(a) and the distribution and recordkeeping requirements of section 857(a), as well as the gross income requirements of section 856(c). The provisions of section 856(g)(4) do not apply to a taxable year in which the corporation, trust, or association makes a valid revocation, under section 856(g)(2), of an election to be a real estate investment trust.