I read a bit about this but didn't go into detail. Will First REIT be affected?
i'm still holding on to first reit so wait for further news and see how the market reacts.
Plife investors should also be aware of this issue.
so this is the portion to concentrate on:
S-REITs currently enjoy tax exemption on foreign income where certain conditions are met and approval is granted by the tax authorities.
When S-REITs were first granted foreign income exemption in early 2000, the exemption was for an indefinite period.
However, in late 2000, an expiry date of 31 March 2015 - or the sunset clause - was introduced and caught the REIT market by surprise.
S-REITs that had structured their foreign property investments to obtain foreign income exemption now had to contend with the possibility of a less efficient tax structure after 31 March 2015.
If the foreign income exemption regime is not extended, the foreign income received by these S-REITs after 31 March 2015 will be subject to tax.
These S-REITs must restructure so that they become tax-efficient again, and doing so inadvertently leads to more costs.
Further, it is a requirement for new REITs seeking a listing on SGX to project their income and yield over the next two years in their listing prospectuses. With the sunset clause in place, such REITs have a problem making their projection.
Should they assume that the regime will be extended in the projection? If so, on what basis can this assumption be made? On the other hand, if the REITs assume that the regime will not be extended, their prospectuses would show a drop in projected yield.
Having an expiry date on the foreign income exemption regime for S-REITs creates uncertainty and may not do the REIT market any favours.