Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not begin a practice here of commenting on the tax affairs of any individual company. That is a matter for the company. What I will comment on is the overall tax treatment of REITs and similar entities. What neither Deputy pointed out in their analysis of the issue is the fact that because of how they are structured, REITs are required to return 85% of their yield or profit to investors. Look at how investors are taxed. If an Irish investor resident here is an individual, they pay income tax on that and if the investor is a corporation, it pays a rate of 25% on it. An institutional portfolio investor pays a rate of tax on it of 12.5%. In respect of an investor outside our jurisdiction, there is a tax code relating to payment abroad, which means the investor will pay tax on that of between 15% and 20%. As both Deputies know, the reason these REITs were put together was to avoid being in a situation where any form of economic activity is taxed twice but as neither Deputy pointed out in their analyses, those taxation regimes apply to the income that comes from the REIT and there is a different taxation regime for an Irish investor compared to an investor abroad. In addition to a tax rate of between 15% and 20%, an investor abroad is required to declare their income in the jurisdiction in which they are resident and pay tax on that as well.

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