US eases 35-year-old tax on foreign property investors

Seattle

PRESIDENT Barack Obama signed into law a measure easing a 35-year-old tax on foreign investment in US real estate, potentially opening the door to greater purchases by overseas investors, a major source of capital since the financial crisis.

Contained in the US$1.1 trillion spending measure that was passed to avoid a government shutdown is a provision that treats foreign pension funds the same as their US counterparts for real estate investments. The provision waives the tax imposed on such investors under the 1980 Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, known as FIRPTA.