Category: REIT

REITS vs. Pass Through Entities: Section 199A and Real Estate Crowdfunding

On By crowdfundattnyIn Crowdfunding Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate Investment Trust, REIT, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Skyscraper Buildings Made From Dollar Banknotes

The 2017 tax act added §199A to the Internal Revenue Code and, with it, two complementary tax deductions:

  • A deduction of up to 20% of the income from a limited partnership, limited liability company, or other “pass through” entity.
  • A deduction equal to 20% of “qualified REIT dividends.”

Which is better for sponsors and investors?

As described here, the 20% deduction for pass-through entities is enormously complicated. Most important, the deduction can be limited for taxpayers whose personal taxable income exceeds $157,500 ($315,000 for a married couple filing jointly). These limits depend on the W-2 wages paid by the pass-through entity (not much for most real estate syndications) and the cost of the entity’s depreciable property (pretty substantial for most real estate syndications). And, naturally, those limits are themselves subject to special rules and definitions.

In contrast, the 20% deduction for qualified REIT dividends (which includes most dividends from REITs, other than capital gain dividends) is straightforward, with no cutdown for higher-income taxpayers.

Does that mean §199A favors REITs over LLCs and other pass-through entities? Not necessarily.

The key is that most real estate syndications don’t generate taxable income. Typically, the depreciation from the building “shelters” the net cash flow, at least during the early years of the project. The tax-favored nature of real estate is, in fact, part of what makes it such an attractive investment in the first place.

If an investor in an LLC is receiving cash flow from the syndication and paying zero tax, the 20% deduction of §199A is irrelevant. And, for that matter, so is the 20% deduction for REIT dividends. If a REIT isn’t generating taxable income because its cash flow is sheltered by depreciation, then its distribution will probably treated as a non-taxable return of capital rather than a taxable dividend.

As discussed here, the key advantage of a REIT over an LLC or other pass-through entity is that the LLC investor receives a complicated K-1 while a REIT investor receives a simple 1099. The relative simplicity of the 20% deduction for REIT dividends over the 20% deduction for pass-through entities is nice, but wouldn’t tip the balance in favor of a REIT by itself.

Questions? Let me know.

What is a REIT, Anyway?

On By crowdfundattnyIn Regulation A, REITLeave a comment

Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, are the shiny new object in Regulation A. What is a REIT and what good are they?

A REIT is just a tax concept. A REIT is an entity that is treated as a corporation for Federal income tax purposes and satisfies a long list of requirements listed in section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code. These requirements include:

  • The kinds of assets it owns
  • The kind of income it generates
  • Who owns it
  • How much of its income it distributes to its owners

Conversely a REIT is not a function of securities laws, contrary to what many people believe. Thus, many REITs have “gone public” by offering their securities in offerings that are registered under the Securities Act of 1933, while many other REITs are still private. Some “public” REITs have registered their shares on a national securities exchange, allowing the shares to be publicly traded, while the shares of other “public” REITs are traded privately. There are very large REITs and very small REITs, and everything in between. Some REITs invest in one class of real estate assets, others invest in completely different classes of real estate assets (e.g., only mortgages), and still others invest in multiple classes of real estate assets. The only thing all these companies have in common, being REITs, is that they all satisfy the requirement in section 856 of the Code.

A REIT may raise capital the same way any other company may raise capital. It may raise capital from accredited investors under Rule 506(c), or from accredited and non-accredited investors under Rule 506(b), or in a quasi-public offering under Regulation A, or in a fully-registered public offering, or in an intrastate offering, or in an offering under Rule 504.

A REIT may offer any kind of financial instrument to its investors:  common stock, preferred stock, straight debt, convertible debt, etc.

So if a REIT is just a tax label, rather than a securities label, why bother to use a REIT for real estate Crowdfunding? The answer is, again, just taxes.

If we’re going to create a fund of real estate assets, we have three choices:  a REIT; a corporation that is not a REIT; and a regular limited liability company or limited partnership. Here’s the logic:

  • If we use a corporation that does not qualify as a REIT, it will be subject to tax on its income at the corporate level, and investors would then be subject to tax again when the corporation distributes its income, resulting in two levels of tax on the same income. Forget that.
  • If we use a regular limited liability company or limited partnership, it will send each equity investor an IRS Form K-1 each year, reporting all of its categories of income, gains, deductions, and distributions.
  • If we use a REIT, it will send each equity investor a simple IRS Form 1099.

Now, if all your investors are wealthy, sophisticated Republicans, they don’t care about receiving another K-1. But if you’re trying to market your fund to simple Democrats, it’s a different story. Say your typical simple Democrat can afford only a $1,000 investment, and a tax filing service charges $49.95 to add the K-1 to her Form 1040 (assuming she files a Form 1040). That’s a 5% annual cost of investing in your fund! A 1099, in contrast, is free.

That’s why we never saw REITs in Title II Crowdfunding, which allows only accredited investors to participate, while we’re seeing a lot of them in Title IV, which allows everyone. The REIT has to spend money complying with Code section 856, but has an easier time attracting non-accredited investors simply as a matter of tax reporting.

Finally, perceptive readers might ask “If REITs are corporations, why do I see REITs on the market with ‘LLC’ after their names?” The answer is that REITs don’t have to be corporations, they have to be taxed as corporations for Federal income tax purposes. A limited liability company that elects to be taxed as a corporation (yep, that’s possible) can qualify as a REIT.

Questions? Let me know.

Crowdfunding A REIT

On By crowdfundattnyIn Crowdfunding, Crowdfunding Real Estate, Real Estate, Real Estate Investment Trust, Regulation A, REIT1 Comment

REIT Blog Post Image

People sometimes ask “Will Crowdfunding replace REITs?” That’s not exactly the right question.

A REIT – an acronym for Real Estate Investment Trust – is not a function of real estate law or corporate law. A REIT is solely a function of tax law. Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code defines a REIT as a corporation, trust, or association that satisfies certain criteria, including these:

  • At least 75% of the entity’s assets must consist of real estate assets or cash.
  • The entity must have at least 100 owners.
  • Interests in the entity must be transferable.
  • No more than 50% percent of the interests in the entity may be held by five or fewer individuals.

There is only one benefit of qualifying as a REIT: as long as he distributes at least 90% of its income to its owners, the entity itself is not subject to tax. Only the owners are subject to tax, when they receive dividend and capital gain distributions. The whole REIT industry is built around this tax benefit.

Because the REIT label is solely a function of tax law, not corporate or securities law, a REIT can be:

  • A publicly-registered company with publicly-traded securities; or
  • A publicly-registered company with privately-traded securities; or
  • A private company with privately-traded securities.

The second category of REIT is probably most common and, frankly, it is the category that has given REITs a bad name. Sold through the traditional broker-dealer channels, it is not unusual for the shares of publicly-registered, privately-traded REITs to carry a load of more than 10%, great for the broker, terrible for the customer. That’s why people say “Private REITS are sold, not bought.”

Compare a publicly-registered, privately-traded REIT to a garden-variety limited liability company owning real estate assets. In both cases, the entity itself pays no tax. And now, through Crowdfunding, the garden-variety LLC can solicit investors using the Internet, leading to transactions cost (load) much lower than the private REIT. Economically it’s a no-brainer: the Crowdfunded real estate LLC is better than the private REIT.

As I said, however, that’s really comparing apples with oranges. The REIT designation is about taxes; Crowdfunding is about how you find investors.

The real question is “Can I find investors for a private REIT using Crowdfunding, rather than through the traditional broker-dealer channels?” And the answer to that question is a resounding “Yes!” When you check the deals available at your favorite real estate Crowdfunding site tomorrow morning, you could well see a REIT.

And why would a sponsor offer a REIT rather than a garden-variety LLC? One reason – maybe the only reason – is tax reporting. An investor in an LLC receives a full-blown K-1 each year, and faces at least the theoretical risk of paying tax on “phantom” income. An investor in a REIT, on the other hand, receives only a simple 1099 and pays tax only on actual distributions.

Be that as it may, nobody should be paying a 10% commission. By connecting sponsors directly with investors, Crowdfunding promises to squeeze this kind of inefficiency out of the capital formation industry. Especially when Regulation A+ comes into effect, opening the market to non-accredited investors, there is every reason to believe that Crowdfunding will replace the traditional broker-dealer as the preferred method for distributing REIT shares.

Questions? Let me know.