I heard foreign pension funds are exempt from FIRPTA — can I use my pension to invest in U.S. real estate tax-free?
I'm a financial advisor in London and I have several clients with substantial self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) who want to invest in U.S. real estate. Someone mentioned that "qualified foreign pension funds" are exempt from FIRPTA. Can we structure investments through pension vehicles to avoid FIRPTA entirely? What qualifies as a QFPF? This sounds too good to be true.
Is this a real exemption or another one of those things that sounds great in theory but doesn't work in practice?
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