No, REIT dividends do not qualify. REITs are not corporations, although they must follow corporation rules in their accounting. They are unit trusts, whose profits (or, more accurately cash flow) are not taxed at the trust level but at the stockholder level, as long as they distribute 90% of their profits to their stockholders.
PS For the adventurous, CIM is an MREIT I recently bought, that I think is a good value. It's in the process of changing accountants (usually a red flag) and has delayed its SEC fillings. As a result it trades at a double digit percent discount to its NAV (which is around $2.75). If, as I expect, the eventual NAV, blessed by the new accountants, turns out to be not much different, it will quickly trade up to it. |
