The Finance Ministry had wanted a 3.5% purchase tax on all home purchases, except for first-time buyers.
The Ministry of Finance has folded, and cancelled proposed taxes on homebuyers, housewives, and pension savings. It also pulled part of the planned reduction in the child's allowance.
The cancelations will cost an estimated NIS 3 billion a year in lost tax revenues. The Finance Ministry had wanted a 3.5% purchase tax on all home purchases, except for first-time homebuyers, from the first shekel.
The Ministry of Finance has declined to mention the alternatives for reducing the budget deficit. One alternative is an across-the-board cut in ministries' budgets.
The Ministry of Finance has also changed the proposed income tax hike: instead of a 1.5% hike on all brackets, there will be a progressive hike, with the largest increase falling on monthly incomes of over NIS 15,000.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 17, 2013
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