Clear Secure, Inc.

15. Income Taxes

The Company is the sole managing member of Alclear, which is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal and most applicable state and local income tax purposes. As a partnership, Alclear is generally not subject to U.S. federal and most state and local income taxes. Any taxable income or loss generated by Alclear is passed through to and included in the taxable income or loss of its members, including Clear Secure Inc., on a pro rata basis. The Company is subject to U.S. federal income taxes in the U.S. and its territories, in addition to state and local income taxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income or loss of Alclear, as well as any stand-alone income or loss generated by the Company. The Company is also subject to income taxes in Israel, Argentina, and Mexico.

The Company reported a tax expense of $17,772 on a pretax income of $93,114 for the three months ended September 30, 2026 as compared to a tax expense of $15,731 on a pretax income of $60,875 for the three months ended September 30, 2025. This resulted in an effective tax rate of 19.1% for the three months ended September 30, 2026 as compared to 25.8% for the three months ended September 30, 2025. The Company reported a tax expense of $51,178 on a pretax income of $255,214 for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, as compared to a tax expense of $27,584 on a pretax income of $149,186 for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. This resulted in an effective tax rate of 20.1% for the nine months ended September 30, 2026 as compared to 18.5% for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. The Company's effective tax rate differs from the statutory rate primarily due to the following: (1) the impact of Alclear being a partnership and allocating its taxable results to its non-controlling members, (2) impact of state and foreign taxes, and (3) movement in valuation allowance. The Company paid $10,661 and $27,738 in estimated income taxes for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026, respectively.

The Company is subject to income taxes in the U.S. and its territories, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico. The statute of limitations for adjustments to our historic tax obligations will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The tax years for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes open for examination are for the years ending December 31, 2020 and forward. The tax years for foreign jurisdictions open for examination are for the years ending December 31, 2020 and forward.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, the Company repurchased 3,739,173 shares of its Class A Common Stock. However, there was no excise tax as of September 30, 2026 because the stock issuances were in excess of repurchases.

Recent U.S. Tax Legislation

On July 4, 2025, the U.S. enacted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“the Act”) that includes several U.S. corporate tax provisions, including 100% bonus depreciation on qualified property and the current deductibility of domestic research and experimental expenditures. The provisions of the Act did not have a material impact on our tax expense or effective tax rate.

The Act lowered the Company’s cash taxes paid for the three months ended September 30, 2025, permitting the Company to accelerate the deductions noted here.

Tax Receivable Agreement

The Company entered into a Tax Receivable Agreement (“TRA”), which generally provides for payment by the Company to the remaining members of Alclear of 85% of the net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax and franchise tax that Clear Secure, Inc. actually realizes or is deemed to realize as a result of (i) any increase in tax basis in Alclear’s assets resulting from (a) exchanges by the post-IPO members of Alclear (the “Alclear Members”) (or their transferees or other assignees) of Alclear Units (along with the corresponding shares of our Class C Common Stock or Class D Common Stock, as applicable) for shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock or Class B Common Stock, as applicable, and purchases of Alclear Units and corresponding shares of Class C Common Stock or Class D Common Stock, as the case may be, from the Alclear Members (or their transferees or other assignees) or (b) payments under the TRA, and (ii) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed arising as a result of payments made under the TRA. The Company will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of these net cash savings.

The TRA liability is calculated by determining the tax basis subject to TRA (“tax basis”) and applying a blended tax rate to the basis differences and calculating the iterative impact. The blended tax rate consists of the U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate driven by the apportionment factors applicable to each state. Subsequent changes to the measurement of the TRA liability are recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of operations as a component of other income (expense), net.

The Company expects to obtain an increase in the share of the tax basis of its share of the assets of Alclear when Alclear Units are redeemed or exchanged by Alclear Members and other qualifying transactions. This increase in tax basis may have the effect of reducing the amounts that the Company would otherwise pay in the future to various tax authorities. The increase in tax basis may also decrease gains (or increase losses) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those capital assets.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2026, the Company issued 3,296,365 shares of Class A Common Stock to certain non-controlling interest holders who exchanged their Alclear Units. Refer to Note 12 for further details. These exchanges resulted in a tax basis increase subject to the provisions of the TRA. The recognition of the Company’s liability under the TRA mirrors the recognition related to its deferred tax assets. As of September 30, 2026, the Company has recognized the deferred tax asset of $315,042 for the step-up in tax basis, as the asset is more-likely-than-not to be realized. As a result, the Company has determined the TRA liability is probable and therefore has recorded a tax receivable agreement liability of $267,786 of which $11,837 is expected to be paid within twelve months of September 30, 2026 and is recorded within accrued expenses in the accompanying balance sheet.

Tax Distributions

The members of Alclear, including Clear Secure, Inc., incur U.S. federal, state and local income taxes on their share of any taxable income of Alclear. The Operating Agreement provides for pro rata cash distributions (“tax distributions”) to the holders of the Alclear Units in an amount generally calculated to provide each member of Alclear with sufficient cash to cover its tax liability in respect of the taxable income of Alclear allocable to them. In general, these tax distributions are computed based on Alclear’s estimated taxable income, multiplied by an assumed tax rate as set forth in the Operating Agreement.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, Alclear paid tax distributions, including withholding taxes, of $17,857, to holders of Alclear Units other than Clear Secure, Inc. and the state tax authorities.

16. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

From time to time, the Company is involved in various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company records a liability when it believes that it is probable that a loss will be incurred and the amount of loss or range of loss can be reasonably estimated. Based on the currently available information, the Company does not believe that there are claims or legal proceedings that would have a material adverse effect on the business, or the condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company.

Commitments other than leases

The Company is subject to minimum spend commitments of $1,345 over the nexttwo years under certain service arrangements.

In conjunction with the Company’s revenue share agreements with the airports, certain agreements contain minimum annual contracted fees. These future minimum payments are as follows as of September 30, 2026:

The Company has commitments for future marketing expenditures to sports stadiums of $4,344 through 2028. For the three months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, marketing expenses related to sports stadiums were $731 and $1,057, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025 marketing expenses related to sports stadiums were $2,649 and $3,804, respectively.

17. Employee Benefit Plan

The Company has a 401(k) retirement, savings and investment plan (the “401(k) Plan”). Participants make contributions to the 401(k) Plan in varying amounts, up to the maximum limits allowable under the Internal Revenue Code. For the three months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, the Company recorded expense of $1,292 and $1,220, respectively, within the condensed consolidated statements of operations. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025, the Company recorded expense of $3,887 and $3,820, respectively, within the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

18. Debt

In March 2020, the Company entered into a credit agreement for athree-year $50,000 revolving credit facility, with a group of lenders (the “Credit Agreement”). In April 2021, the Company entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Credit Agreement that increased the commitments under the revolving credit facility to $100,000, which extended the maturity date to March 31, 2024. The revolving credit facility includes a letter of credit sub-facility. In June 2023, the Company entered into Amendment No. 2 to the Credit Agreement to transition from London Interbank Offered Rate to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") as our benchmark interest rate and to extend the maturity date to June 28, 2026. The Company incurred immaterial debt issuance costs in connection to Amendment No. 2 to the Credit Agreement. In November 2024, the Company entered into Amendment No. 3 to the Credit Agreement to increase the letter of credit sublimit from $35,000 to $50,000. In June 2026, the Company entered into Amendment No. 4 to (i) reduce the lender commitments under the Credit Agreement from $100,000 to $50,000 and (ii) extend the maturity date to June 23, 2031. The line of credit hasnot been drawn against as of September 30, 2026. Prepaid loan fees related to this facility are capitalized and amortized over the remaining term of the credit agreement. The balance expected to be amortized within twelve months from the balance sheet date is presented within Prepaid expenses and other current assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets, while the long term portion is presented within Other assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The Credit Agreement contains customary terms and conditions, including limitations on consolidations, mergers, indebtedness, and certain payments, as well as a financial covenant relating to leverage. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement generally will bear a floating interest rate per year and will also include interest based on the greater of the prime rate, SOFR, or New York Federal Reserve Bank (NYFRB) rate, plus an applicable margin for specific interest periods.

As of September 30, 2026, the Company had a remaining borrowing capacity of $14,400, net of standby letters of credit, and hadno outstanding debt obligations.

In addition, the Credit Agreement contains certain other covenants (none of which relate to financial condition), events of default and other customary provisions. As of September 30, 2026, the Company was in compliance with all of the financial and non-financial covenants of the Credit Agreement.

19. Segment Information

The Company is organized and operates as a single operating and reportable segment, which aligns with the way the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), who is the Chief Executive Officer, evaluates financial performance and results and allocates resources based on the consolidated results of the Company as a whole. The Company's operations are primarily focused on growing and maintaining its secure identity network across multiple offerings in both aviation and non-aviation channels. See Note 1 for further information on the Company’s operations and services from which it derives its revenues.

Operating income and assets are managed at the consolidated level, and there are no separate components that are regularly reviewed for performance or allocation of resources. Consolidated operating income as reported in the financial statements is used by the CODM to monitor budget versus actual results, review performance and allocate resources. The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements within this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q reflect the Company’s operations for its single operating and reportable segment.

Total revenues and long-lived assets outside of the United States are immaterial for each of the three and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and 2025.

20. Subsequent Events

Quarterly Dividend

On November 4, 2026, the Company announced that its Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable on December 24, 2026 to holders of record of Class A Common Stock as of the close of business on December 10, 2026 (the “Record Date”). The Company will fund the dividend from proportionate cash distributions by Alclear to all of its members as of the Record Date, including holders of non-controlling interests in Alclear and the Company.

To the extent the quarterly dividend exceeds the Company's current and accumulated earnings and profits, a portion of such dividend may be deemed a return of capital to the holders of our Class A Common Stock, as applicable.

On November 4, 2026, the Company announced that its Board authorized a $175,000 increase to its existing Class A Common Stock share repurchase program, resulting in an aggregate remaining authorization of approximately $254,400. Under the repurchase program, the Company may purchase shares of its Class A Common Stock on a discretionary basis from time to time through open market repurchases, privately negotiated transactions, or other means, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will be determined by management depending on a variety of factors, including stock price, trading volume, market conditions, and other general business considerations. The repurchase program has no expiration date and may be modified, suspended, or terminated at any time.