Research report 2006 - Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law
The German Real Estate Investment Trust
Authors
Wagner, Gunther
Departments
Rechnungslegung und Steuern (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Schön)
MPI für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht, München
Summary
The Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a tax transparent real estate investment vehicle. For a long time players in the financial and real estate markets have been requiring its introduction to Germany. To avoid tax losses of the German tax authorities, the German legislator demands to secure taxation at shareholder level. In this context, problems are caused especially by the existing double taxation agreements and the EC Parent Subsidiary Directive. Thus, the jurisprudence is called upon to analyse the methods of resolution proposed and present own solutions, in order to assist the German legislator in his further decisions.