In Denver, Colorado, lawmakers say Wal-Mart and other large corporations are evading taxes on real estate profits.
A bill that was unveiled last Tuesday requires companies to declare questionable transactions on their corporate tax returns. Also, for small investors, there is now a new federal tax law that allows to pool their resources to participate in real estate markets. These markets normally requires large amounts of capital, providing tax breaks.
The emphasis is on Wal-Mart since lawmakers say that it is evading taxes by owning a majority of the investment trust.
Daphne Moore, corporate communications director for Wal-Mart, however states that there are lawful arrangements they have made. She adds, “while there is a tax benefit, we also use them for management efficiency and simplified capital administration. It makes sense to have properties administered by a separate professional real estate office, rather than by individual store managers who have many other issues to contend with. Anything Wal-Mart can do to lawfully reduce its costs enables the company to pass those savings on to customers in the form of lower prices.”
