IFM21040 - Real Estate Investment Trust : Background: General Definitions Relating To Parts of a UK-REIT

The UK-REIT legislation uses a number of terms to describe the part of the vehicle that carries on tax-exempt activities and the parts that carry on other activities. These are divided into the activities carried on before the vehicle joined the regime, activities carried on while it is in the regime, and activities carried on by the vehicle after it has left the regime.

‘Entry’ is when a company or member of a group joins the regime. The legislation refers to a company or member of a group that joins the regime as an ‘incoming company’. A company or group before it joins the regime is a ‘pre-entry company’ or ‘pre-entry group’, for the period up to, but not including the first day of the accounting period referred to in the notice under CTA2010/S523 or S524 stating the date from which the company or group is to be a REIT.

‘Exit’ is when a company or member of a group leaves the regime. A company or a member of a group that leaves the regime is referred to as an ‘exiting company’. A company or group after leaving the regime is a ‘post cessation company’ or ‘post cessation group’, from the day after the date specified in the notice stating that the company or group is to cease to be a REIT.

The property rental business of the company or group after it enters the regime so far as it satisfies the conditions as to the property rental business (CTA2010/ S529) includes all the property rental business of the company, regardless of the location of the property.

For groups, this includes the property rental business of all members of the group, regardless of their residency status or the location of property, made up of the part of each member of the group that carries on such property rental business. The conditions must be met by the group, not each group member.

The income and assets of the property rental business of the company or group’s business need to meet the 75% tests in the Balance of Business conditions in CTA2010/S531 (IFM22065). This may differ from the property rental business income from which profits are exempt under CTA2010/ S534 and used for the 90% distribution requirement in CTA 2010/ S530 (IFM22050).

The profits of members of the group that are exempt from UK tax as a result of the application of rules of the UK-REIT regime are made up of two amounts – the income and gains arising from worldwide property of the UK resident members of the group and the income arising from UK properties of non-residents group members. This is the amount of profits shown in the financial statements under CTA2010/ S532 (2) (b).

Residual business is the company or group so far as it does not carry out property rental business. For groups, this includes the residual business of all members of the group, made up of the part of each member of the group that carries on such activities that are not part of the tax-exempt business.

For the purposes of the REIT legislation a company (“the principal company”) and all its 75% subsidiaries form a group; and if any of those subsidiaries have 75% subsidiaries the group includes them and their 75% subsidiaries, and so on; provided subsidiaries are effective 51% subsidiary of the principal company (CTA2010/S606(1)and (2)).