Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon has probably realized that quite a few MKs, cabinet ministers, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not necessarily support his bill to tax owners of three or more housing units. He posted a message today on his Facebook page apparently aimed at gaining public support for the measure.
"Coalition members will have to choose whether they support a decision that will help young couples and the middle class, or join MK Yair Lapid, who is defending the upper thousandth percentile," Kahlon wrote on Facebook. He added, "The purpose of the 3-housing unit (tax) plan is to free up housing units and increase the supply. We have already chosen - we're on the young couple's side."
Kahlon's post comes after Netanyahu referred to Kahlon's plan on Channel 2, saying, "I have three housing units, so I'm constrained by a conflict of interest." Netanyahu went on to say that he did not know how many MKs owned three or more housing units. According to what Kahlon said several weeks ago, 50,000 people in Israel own three or more housing units, and it is believed that many MKs are among them.
Kahlon's proposal has attracted a great deal of criticism to the effect that it will make those who have purchased three housing units in outlying areas pay the same tax as rich people owning housing units worth tens of millions of shekels. In addition, according to Kahlon's proposal, the owner of a Tel Aviv penthouse worth over NIS 30 million will pay no tax at all, while the owner of housing units in Beer Sheva, Kiryat Shmona, and similar towns worth hundreds of thousands of shekels will have to pay tax. Furthermore, the measure will cause the removal of rental apartments from the market, resulting in higher rents, which will affect young people and others unable to afford to buy an apartment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 25, 2016
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