REIT reform gets PM’s ear

PRIME Minister Dr Andrew Holness says the Government is open to drafting a law for real estate investment trusts (REITs), but any tax breaks would have to generate enough new revenue to offset what the Treasury gives up over the long term.

Holness was responding to a call from Kingston Properties Limited (KPREIT) for a legal framework that would make it easier for pension funds and individual investors to put money into income-producing property. The company made its case on Tuesday at the opening of its Rousseau Road Commercial Complex in Kingston, its first development built from the ground up.

“…at this time you would have to be very careful how we give up certain tax revenues. Not that we wouldn’t create fiscal incentives for it, but we would have to have a very strong guarantee that whatever fiscal incentive regime we create, it is going to be offset by revenues that are coming in,” Holness said, adding that the gains would have to hold over the long term.