Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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34. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he has engaged in discussions regarding a repeal of the competitive tax advantages of REITs within the housing market. [54716/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I have no function in the matter raised in the question. Taxation is a matter for the Minister for Finance and is outside the remit of my Department.

The Finance Act 2013 introduced the regime for the operation of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Ireland. The function of the REIT framework is not to provide an overall tax exemption but rather to facilitate collective investment in rental property by removing a double layer of taxation which would otherwise apply on property investment via a corporate vehicle.

REITs are required to distribute 85% of all property income profits annually to investors. Dividend Withholding Tax (DWT) at a rate of 25% must be applied to these distributions, other than those distributed to certain limited classes of investors such as pensions and charities as they are more generally exempt from tax.

I understand that a number of amendments were made to the taxation of REITs as part of Finance Act 2019, to ensure the regime operates as intended and further details on these amendments can be found at www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-finance/.