The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not extend the deadline for setting up a new property fund, as it has repeatedly confirmed real estate investment trusts (REITs) will begin early next year as scheduled.
Thawatchai Kiatkwankul, the SEC's director of accounting supervision, said REIT unitholders who are individuals are subject to a 10% withholding tax, while juristic persons are entitled to a 20% withholding tax on dividends.
REITs are set to replace property funds from next Jan 1, but the tax issue has raised concerns about a lukewarm welcome from investors.
Currently, individual property fund unitholders are subject to a 10% tax, but the tax is waived for juristic persons.
Mr Thawatchai said the Revenue Department already approved scrapping the tax payment for asset transfers to REITs, and the SEC asked the Finance Ministry to waive the fee.
Exhibition Management, a business unit of the SET-listed Bangkok Land (BLAND), recently announced plans to launch the country's first REIT, the 20-billion-baht Impact Growth.