IREM Goes to Washington

WASHINGTON, DC-Wednesday, April 10th will be a big day for the Institute of Real Estate Management, to say nothing for the politicians that work on the Hill. On that day some 250 IREM members, joined by the CCIM Institution, will fan out across Capitol Hill to meet with Congress people and/or their top aides. Some 200 meetings are planned. The topic of discussion? Not surprisingly, issues of most importance to the commercial real estate community. This year those issues include, but are not limited to, carried interest and the internet sales tax.

Carried interest, or rather a change in its tax characterization, has been eyed by Washington every year for the past several years. This year the threat could be worst of all, IREM’s Chief Legislative Officer Chuck Achilles, tells GlobeSt.com. “The deficit problem this country has and even with sequestration in place, there still needs to be changes.” Carried interest, especially as it is often is associated with the hedge fund industry, is seen as a ripe target. But what many don’t realize, Achilles says, is that ” real estate accounts for almost 50% of the 2.5 million partnerships in the United States.”