Changes to Finance Bill may revive REIT, InvIT market, attract capital

The amendments to the Finance Bill 2020 earlier this week, which exempt dividend earned by unitholders of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InVITs) from tax, are set to revive the market for these instruments.
 

According to the Budget announcement, unitholders had to pay tax on dividend income distributed by REITs/InvITs.
 

This was likely to adversely impact about six upcoming issues, including those by Brookfield and Reliance Industries’ Tower Infrastructure Trust along with K Raheja Corp’s Mindspace Business Park REIT. However, according to changes to the Finance Bill 2020, announced early this week, dividend earned from InvITs