EUCOTAX Series on European Taxation Volume 52

About the author:

Wolfgang Speckhahn, an experienced German tax lawyer who has held positions at various property companies, serves on the tax committee of the European Real Property Association. As well as his legal training, Speckhahn has a degree in Real Estate Economics from the European Business School and is a Master of International and European Business Law as well as being awarded Doctor of Philosophy both from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, and a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS).

About this book:

Real Estate Investment Trusts in Europe: Europeanising Tax Regimes is the first in-depth comparative study on taxation of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in different European Union (EU) Member States. It is well known that investments in real estate provide relatively stable yields compared with stock market volatility, so it is not surprising that, with globalisation, investors have pursued such opportunities across borders, especially where foreign countries offer beneficial tax regimes. Nor is it surprising that states should fear erosion of their tax base in the presence of such investments. This book investigates the impact of EU law on direct taxation in the case of REITs, and whether EU policies in this area have led national legislators to adjust their REIT regimes.

What’s in this book:

Presenting detailed case studies of three EU Member States, France (a well-established REIT regime), Bulgaria (a new accession state) and Spain (a recent REIT regime), this book explores the idea of a harmonised EU-REIT, and whether harmonisation among national REIT regimes may be possible. Among the issues and topics arising in the course of the presentation are the following:

• ‘goodness of fit’ and adaptational soft pressure;
• relevant case law from the European Court of Justice, including tax and company law;
• ‘REIT shopping’;
• non-compliance of REIT regimes with EU law; and
• criteria for the ‘misfit’ analysis of REIT regimes and potential infringements of EU law.

The analysis ultimately documents conditions and circumstances for the creation of a harmonised ‘EU-REIT’ by assessing the level of change on the area of direct taxation within the Member States that would be needed for such a creation to become a reality, identifying common themes across different legal systems that could assist the harmonisation of laws. Throughout, a holistic view is taken, linking tax and company law with considerations of sovereignty, policy and culture.

How this will help you:

This incomparable study, in its structured framework comparing REIT regimes, takes a giant step towards overcoming resistance to a common REIT taxation regime in the EU. As the first comparative study of REIT regimes to identify an emerging common understanding informed by European jurisprudence and Europeanisation policy and theory, it is sure to be welcomed by practitioners, academics and policymakers in the field of European law and international taxation as well as European studies.