The Tel Aviv Municipality's executive has decided to charge a special municipal property tax rate of NIS 120.89 per square meter for Airbnb apartments. The municipality announced, "In recent years, renting out apartments for short periods has become very prevalent in Tel Aviv. Renting takes place mostly through websites specializing in this type of rental, such as Airbnb.
"In view of the steep rise in the number of apartments rented out commercially for long periods and the resulting damage to the residents' way of life and level of rent in the market, a uniform rate of NIS 120.89 per square meter has been set."
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai himself commented on the matter, saying, "The new policy we are pursuing as part of a municipal property tax ordinance for 2019 was designed to regulate the growing number of apartments that are becoming full-time vacation apartments. In the long term, this raises the cost of housing for young people in the city and the total cost of living there, mainly for young people and families."
The measure requires approval from the Tel Aviv City Council and the Ministry of the Interior. The decision was taken after the Tel Aviv municipality management yesterday approved the municipal property tax ordinance for 2019, in which the municipal property tax rates will be revised, as required by law - a 0.32% revision, according to the revision formula stipulated in the Economic Arrangements Law.
It was also decided that the average residential municipal property tax rate in Tel Aviv in 2019 would be NIS 52.20 per square meter. The municipality said that this rate "was among the lowest in the large cities." It was further decided that reserve soldiers would receive a 5% discount. All of the municipality management's decision require approval from the city council.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 28, 2019
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