Public Ruling (PR) No. 2/2015: Taxation Of Real Estate Investment Trust Or Property Trust Fund

PR No. 2/2015 has recently been uploaded to the website of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to replace the PR No. 9/2012 dated 26 November 2012.

The key changes are as follows:

1. Paragraph 3 — The interpretation for the terms "Real estate investment trust", "Islamic real estate investment trust", "Distribution" and "Fund" in the previous PR have been deleted.
2. Paragraph 4 — A new paragraph is inserted to explain the meaning of REIT/PTF.
3. Paragraphs 5 to 10 — Revised and renumbered to provide further clarification on the special tax treatment on rental income of a REIT/PTF, deductibility of expenses, capital allowance and industrial building allowance, special provision relating to Section 63C of the ITA and exemption of income from tax.
4. Paragraph 8.3.2 and 8.3.3 — New paragraphs are inserted to incorporate controlled transfer provisions introduced in Finance Act 2013 (Act 755).
5. Paragraph 15 — A new paragraph is inserted to explain the filing of income tax return form (ITRF).
6. Appendix 1 — A diagram to illustrate the special tax treatment accorded to a REIT/PTF.
7. Appendix 2 — Appendix 1 in the previous PR (specimen sample of a REIT/PTF distribution voucher) is renamed as Appendix 2.

Originally published in July 2015

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