AB 2020 Form 10-K

persons holding Shares in connection with a hedging, straddle, conversion or other integrated transaction, non-U.S. stockholders (as defined below) engaged in a trade or business in the United States, persons who have ceased to be U.S. citizens or to be taxed as resident aliens, or individual non-U.S. stockholders present in the United States for 183 days or more during a taxable year. This discussion also does not address any aspects of U.S. estate or gift tax, the net investment income tax, alternative minimum tax or foreign, state or local tax. This discussion assumes that the Fund’s stockholders hold their Shares as capital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes (generally, assets held for investment). No ruling has been or will be sought from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) regarding any matter discussed herein. A “U.S. stockholder” is a beneficial owner of Shares that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes: • an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; • a corporation created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state therein or the District of Columbia; • an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or • a trust, (i) if a court within the United States is able to exercise primary jurisdiction over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (ii) the trust validly elected to be treated as a United States person for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A “non-U.S. stockholder” means a beneficial owner of Shares that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes not a U.S. stockholder. If a partnership or other entity classified as a partnership, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, holds Shares, the U.S. tax treatment of the partnership and each partner generally will depend on the status of the partner, the activities of the partnership and certain determinations made at the partner level. A partnership considering an investment in Shares should consult its own tax advisers regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of Shares by the partnership. Taxation of the Fund The Fund has elected to be treated and intend to qualify each year as a RIC under Subchapter M of the Code. As a RIC, the Fund generally will not be required to pay corporate-level U.S. federal income taxes on any ordinary income or capital gains that the Fund timely distributes to its stockholders as dividends. To qualify as a RIC, the Fund must, among other things: • derive in each taxable year at least 90% of the Fund’s gross income from dividends, interest, payments with respect to certain securities loans, gains from the sale or other disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, other income derived with respect to the Fund’s business of investing in stock, securities or currencies, or net income derived from an interest in a “qualified publicly traded partnership,” or “QPTP,” hereinafter the “90% Gross Income Test;” and • diversify the Fund’s holdings so that, at the end of each quarter of each taxable year: • at least 50% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is represented by cash and cash items, U.S. Government securities, the securities of other RICs and other securities, with other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total assets and not more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and • not more than 25% of the value of the Fund’s total assets is invested in the securities of any issuer (other than U.S. Government securities and the securities of other RICs), the securities of any two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same business or similar or related trades or businesses, or the securities of one or more QPTPs, hereinafter the “Diversification Tests.” As a RIC, the Fund generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on net income and net realized capital gains that the Fund distributes to stockholders in any taxable year with respect to which the Fund distributes an amount equal to at least 90% of the sum of the Fund’s (i) investment company taxable income (i.e., the Fund’s taxable ordinary income, which includes, among other items, dividends, and interest, plus the excess (if any) of the Fund’s net realized short-term capital gains over net realized long-term capital losses, reduced by deductible expenses) determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and (ii) net tax-exempt interest income (which is the excess of the Fund’s gross tax-exempt interest income over certain disallowed deductions), or the “Annual Distribution Requirement.” The Fund intends to timely distribute all or substantially all of the Fund’s investment company taxable income in order to satisfy the Annual Distribution Requirement. Generally, if the Fund fails to meet this Annual Distribution Requirement for any taxable year, the Fund will fail to qualify as a RIC for such taxable year and will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates on all of the Fund’s net income and net realized capital gains regardless of any distributions made 17