Налоги с ETF

Taxation at the Trust Level

REITs must follow the same rules as all other unit investment trusts. REITs must be taxed first at the trust level, then to beneficiaries. But they must follow the same method of self-assessment as corporations. So, REITs have the same valuation and accounting rules as corporations, but instead of passing through profits, they pass cash flow directly to unitholders.

There are a few extra rules for REITs beyond the rules for other unit investment trusts:

1. Rental income is treated as business income to REITs because the government considers rent to be the business of REITs. This means all expenses related to rental activities can be deducted the same as business expenses can be written off by a corporation.
2. Furthermore, current income distributed to unitholders is not taxed to the REIT, but if the income is distributed to a non-resident beneficiary, that income must be subject to a 30% withholding tax for ordinary dividends and a 35% rate for capital gains, unless the rate is lower by treaty.

For all practical purposes, REITs are generally exempt from taxation at the trust level as long they distribute at least 90% of their income to their unitholders. However, even REITs adhering to this rule still face corporate taxation on any retained income.

Taxation to Unitholders

The dividend payments made by the REIT are taxed to the unitholder as ordinary income, unless they are considered qualified dividends, which are taxed as capital gains. Otherwise, the dividend will be taxed at the unitholder's top marginal tax rate.

Also, a portion of the dividends paid by REITs may constitute a nontaxable return of capital, which not only reduces the unit holder's taxable income in the year the dividend is received, but also defers taxes on that portion until the capital asset is sold. These payments also reduce the cost basis for the unitholder. The nontaxable portions are then taxed as either long- or short-term capital gains/losses.

Because REITs are seldom taxed at the trust level, they can offer relatively higher yields than stocks, whose issuers must pay taxes at the corporate level before computing dividend payout.