On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the IR Act, which, among other things, imposes a 1% excise tax on any publicly traded domestic corporation that repurchases its stock after December 31, 2022. The Excise Tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which the stock is repurchased. The amount of the Excise Tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. For purposes of calculating the Excise Tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances made by such repurchasing corporations, if any, against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the Excise Tax. The U.S. Department of Treasury (the "Treasury") has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the Excise Tax. On December 27, 2022, the Treasury issued Notice 2023-2 (the "Notice"), which provides interim guidance addressing the application of the Excise Tax. Under the Notice, liquidating distributions are exempt from the Excise Tax. In addition, redemptions may also be exempt if they occur in the same year as the liquidation. On June 28, 2024, the Treasury finalized certain of the proposed regulations (those relating to procedures for reporting and paying the Excise Tax). The remaining regulations (largely relating to the computation of the Excise Tax) remain in proposed form. The Treasury intends to finalize these proposed regulations at a later date and, until such time, taxpayers may continue to rely on the proposed regulations. The Excise Tax may apply to any redemptions of our public shares after December 31, 2022, including in connection with a business combination, as well as redemptions made in connection with the extensions approved by our stockholders at the special meetings, and redemptions made if we are unable to consummate a business combination. The Excise Tax would be payable by us, and not by the redeeming holder.
Pursuant to our charter, each public stockholder may seek to redeem all or a portion of such stockholder's public shares for its pro rata portion of the funds available in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us (less taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), in connection with the approval of the Charter Amendment and the implementation of the Extension. Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022 may be subject to the excise tax, including in connection with our initial business combination, certain amendments to our charter (including the proposed Charter Amendment) or otherwise. Whether and to what extent we would be subject to the excise tax would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the initial business combination, certain amendments to our charter (including the proposed Charter Amendment) or otherwise, (ii) the structure of the initial business combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any "PIPE" or other equity issuances in connection with the initial business combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with the initial business combination but issued within the same taxable year of the initial business combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by us and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. No interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account will be used to pay for any excise tax due under the IR Act in connection with the Extension. As a result, we may not have sufficient funds to pay for the excise tax, and if we cannot pay for the excise tax, we may incur additional interest and penalties for late payments. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete our initial business combination and in our ability to complete our initial business combination, including the proposed Transaction.