Jeroen Elink Schuurman, Partner & PwC Global Real Estate Tax Leader, and Tijmen Cabollet, Director Real Estate and Alternative Investments Funds, both from PwC, presented on how real estate funds and institutional investors are taxed in the European Union and what the future holds for cross-border real estate investments.
Here are some highlights from the briefing:
- Europe is slowly but steadily moving towards a level tax playing field when it comes to taxation of cross-border fund investments.
- While Effective Tax Rate of traditional fund structures increased due to EU and domestic anti-tax avoidance measures, structuring alternatives are becoming increasingly attractive for (tax exempt) institutional investors.
- The EU Commission and foreign pension funds have engaged in extensive litigation to secure equal treatment for withholding taxes, and similar opportunities may arise for insurance companies.