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Yesterday the Israeli Ministry of Finance opened a consultation process in respect of draft legislation aimed at amending the Israeli VAT legislation, introducing VAT liability on out of state e-commerce and digital services providers that provide electronic and digital products and services into Israel. This, even if such providers do not have any place of business in Israel.

Recently the Israeli Antitrust Authority has stepped up its enforcement measures, and the local Courts began imposing stricter penalties on violations of the Antitrust Law.

L’acquisition d’un bien immobilier est généralement l’une des décisions les plus cruciales, onéreuses et importantes de votre vie. Cela est d’autant plus vrai lorsqu’il s’agit de l’acquisition d’une propriété située à l’étranger. Nous avons dressé une liste contenant 10 conseils primordiaux afin de vous aider à y parvenir comme il se doit

In the last 20 years, the notion of examining whether to establish a casino in Israel comes back from time to time, to life. So far, this issue has not received much advancement by the government, for various reasons, such as religious parties' opposition, the fear of an increase in gambling addictions, ideological opposition to casinos and so on and so forth.

The Israeli Tax Authority (ITA) recently announced, during a discussion of the parliamentary committee, that it is about to publish a tax circular in the matter of renting apartments for a short periods of time, including through Internet platforms such as Airbnb. According to recently released data, In 2015 about 128,000 tourists visiting Israel rented apartments through Airbnb. This represents an increase of 45% compared to 2014, as well as an increase of 40% in the number of Israelis who offer their apartments for rent through Airbnb, which is now over 13,000.

Developers can no longer rely on changes to an apartment, requested by the purchaser, as reason to avoid payment of compensation for late delivery. This was ruled recently by the Supreme Court in a case involving a dispute between purchasers of an apartment and a contracting company. The Sale (Apartments) Law states that a delay of over 60 days from the date specified in the sale contract for the delivery of the apartment to the purchaser, means that the purchaser will be entitled to compensation without proof of damage, and this from the first day of delay. In the abovementioned case, the sale contract which was signed by the purchasers and the contracting company stated that any request to change or supplement the apartment will postpone the delivery date of the apartment for at least 60 days. It should be noted that clauses of this nature are common and appear in almost every sale contract from a contractor. The Supreme Court ruled that the wording of the relevant clause is broad and vague, and gives the contractor unlimited options to determine the date of delivery, which creates uncertainty among the purchasers. Thus, the contractor prevents the purchasers from preparing themselves for a new and clear date on which the apartment will be delivered to them, and to plan their moves accordingly. The Court further ruled that from now on, the contractor cannot rely on sweeping clauses in apartment sale contracts, which include provisions exempting him from paying compensation for delays in delivery of apartments, in any case where changes to the apartment were ordered by the purchasers. However, the Court held that the parties can agree, for example, on a new and concrete postponed delivery date, in the case of making changes in the apartment at the request of the purchaser, in a later agreement signed by the parties. The Court also noted that a new and postponed delivery date that will be determined by agreement, as mentioned, may be examined by the Court, in terms of its reasonableness in relation to the scope of changes made to the apartment and their nature.

As part of the Israel Security Authority’s (ISA) measures to relax certain existing regulations, it has promulgated the Securities Order (Amendment to the First Addendum to the Law) regarding the definition of a “classified investor.” This amendment will come into effect on March 25, 2016.