Client updates / Private Clients

Signing a prenuptial agreement has a critical impact not only on the division of property upon divorce, but also on the taxes a couple pays during marriage. It is important for couples to understand the economic advantages inherent in signing a prenuptial agreement and draw one up accordingly.

Unlike the laws applying to married couples in Israel, the “presumption of property sharing” arrangement prescribed in case law for common-law couples does not allow for an unequal division of property. An Israeli Supreme Court ruling clarified this recently and emphasized how important it is for common-law couples to draw up cohabitation agreements.

Earlier this month, the Israeli Ministry of Finance approved the outline for a hike to the purchase tax imposed on real estate investors, once again, to tax brackets of 8% and 10%. The Ministry of Finance has since updated that the purchase tax hike will take effect on Sunday, November 28. The ministry’s goal with this move is to “dissuade” investors from purchasing investment apartments and lower the demands in the residential housing market.

Up until now, the Israel Tax Authority interpreted the Real Estate Taxation Law so that spouses who signed a prenuptial agreement and maintained separate property were considered a single family unit for the purposes of real estate tax. 

Israeli Minister of Finance Israel Katz’s plan to reduce purchase tax for investors has gone into effect. Until now, under plans advanced by the previous Minister of Finance, Moshe Kahlon, for lowering housing prices and pushing investors out of the real estate market, the purchase tax for investors went up from 5% to 8% for an apartment that was not the purchaser’s sole apartment.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic affecting the economic market, the Israel Tax Authority has published several reliefs for taxpayers.

The sanction-free voluntary disclosure procedure will come to a close at the end of 2019. Provided the Israel Tax Authority and the State Attorney’s Office decide not to extend this procedure, this may be the last opportunity to declare and report true income, and accordingly pay true taxes, without the disclosure being subject to criminal sanctions.

The Tel Aviv District Court handed down a decision a few days ago rejecting the Israel Tax Authority’s (ITA) position on the conveyance of real estate properties to trusts. This decision dramatically changes the taxation of trusts in Israel.

The Knesset recently approved the Law for the Reduction in the Use of Cash. This law imposes bans and restrictions on the making and receiving of payments using cash and checks at the sums therein prescribed.

The Israel Tax Authority (ITA) recently published a draft circular for public comment on the issue of classifying residential rent income. The ITA states that, according to its reasoning, income from the leasing of 10 or more apartments should be deemed business income.

In July 2017, the Fair Rent Law was enacted, an initiative of MPs Stav Shaffir and Roy Folkman. The main objectives of the New Law are to regulate the relationship between tenants and landlords and to define the minimum conditions for an apartment to be deemed “fit for dwelling.”

Two pending amendments to Israeli tax legislation will, if adopted, permit the exchange of information about taxpayers in a multinational context. The passing of these amendments will also allow for implementation of multilateral agreements for ‘exchange of information’ regarding individuals and corporate tax payers.

On 21 October 2014, the Haifa District Court handed down its decision in “Yael Zor v the Tax Assessor Haifa” concerning temporary residency abroad. The case relates to a senior employee of a multinational enterprise the shipping company, Zim, who worked in Hong Kong for a subsidiary of the group from January 2006 to August 2008.