Only one month after starting his new role as Minister of Housing and Construction, Yaakov Litzman is spearheading the cancellation of the Purchase Tax (Mas Rechisha ) on investment apartments in peripheral areas of Israel. The proposal was sent to the Minister of Finance, Israel Katz, about a week ago, recommending the tax continue to...

The Israeli Housing Ministry has recommended a 100-day  delay in delivering new apartments in Israel as a result of Coronavirus. This amounts to an additional 40 days to the delay period that the law currently permits. According to the Ministry, the average delay caused by the Corona crisis is estimated to range between 70 and...

The COVID-19 pandemic is still raging strong. Nobody knows with any certainty if we, in Israel, are in the beginning, the middle, or towards the end of this ordeal. These are treacherous unchartered waters and it is unclear what the effects on the financial markets will be in the long term. In this post we...

The Municipality of Tel Aviv announced that it is increasing the property taxes (“arnona“) of approximately 1,400 “ghost apartments” to 220.78 NIS per square meter.  Property taxes are between 50 and 85 NIS 85 per square meter for apartments in Tel Aviv up to 140 square meters (depending on the area in ​​the city). On average, this...

Americans wishing to invest in residential real estate in Israel should consider both the US and the Israeli tax implications of their investment. While Israel imposes different taxes on foreign investment in Israeli real estate, the US has a policy of taxing its citizens on worldwide income and reserves the right to disregard most provisions...

Many foreign residents purchasing real estate in Israel are surprised by the prevalence of illegal extensions to the apartments they view prior to finding the property they will ultimately purchase. This phenomenon has its roots in many different factors, including the complicated and drawn out process for obtaining building rights and permits in Israel; the costs involved which can...

In a concerted effort to bring down prices in the residential real estate market, the Israeli Government has recently implemented a number of reforms in the regulations connected to real estate transaction taxes (purchase tax and capital gains tax in Israel). While most professionals in the field would agree that the reforms have not achieved...

Understand the various types of registration of land and different forms of real estate ownership in Israel.

As the government decided yesterday to lower the value-added-tax rate (VAT) in Israel by 1% from 18% to 17%, local and overseas homebuyers in the process of planning to purchase a new apartment in Israel are able to moderately reduce some of the cost involved. When buying a property in Israel, VAT is included in the price of...