Real Estate Investment Trusts (or REITs) were formed around sixty years ago after President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that created a new approach to income-based investing alternatives.
First legally created in the U.S. through the Real Estate Investment Trust Act of 1960, REITs do not pay any corporate income tax. Instead, these entities must pay out at least 90% of their otherwise taxable income to investors in the form of dividends.
With the signing of the REIT Act (contained in the Cigar Excise Tax Extension of 1960), Eisenhower helped to pave the way for