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Real Estate Investment Trusts: A Growing Trend

By J. Philip Rosen and John C. Butenas
May 11, 2004

REITs were invented in the US by legislation enacted in 1960 to enable small investors to make equity investments in large-scale commercial real estate in the same way they invested in large corporations in other industries. This chapter examines:

  • The requirements than an entity must satisfy to qualify as a REIT;
  • The development of REITS; and
  • The advantages of REITs.

What Is a REIT?

A REIT is a company that owns and leases income-producing real estate such as apartments, offices and shopping centers. (Some so-called “Mortgage REITs” generate income by financing real estate.)

The distinctive characteristic of the REIT structure, and the primary reason for its increasing use, is its “pass-through” treatment for US federal income tax and capital gains tax purposes. A REIT may deduct from its taxable income dividends paid to its shareholders, effectively eliminating any tax at the REIT level.

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