New tax benefits for new olim
A new tax reform for new immigrants is slowly progressing through the legislative labyrinth. Current estimates are that the legislation will be completed within about six weeks.
At a presentation on Thursday evening by the Senior Deputy Director of the Israel Tax Authority Mr. Gideon Bar- Zakay, he and the Director General of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption were surprisingly forthcoming. Having spearheaded the new legislation, they were proud of their efforts to simplify the benefits package to three lines.
The tax benefits are for those who made aliyah after January 1, 2008.
- ALL forms of income earned OVERSEAS passively and actively, from salaries to pensions, from stock profits to business revenues – are NOT liable for Israeli taxes for a period of 10 years after aliyah.
- Those who made aliyah after January 1, 2008 are not obliged to report their earnings or income from overseas for a period of 10 years after their aliyah.
An interesting point that came up in the discussion is that the Minister of Finance can extend the 10 year window (i.e. in December 2017) for another 10 years. Mr. Bar-Zakay said that the tax authority wants it to be absolutely clear that it does NOT want part of the earnings of foreign companies- and to enable the shareholders to make aliyah without exposing themselves to additional tax liability.
The only people appearing somewhat upset by the legislation are the accountants who deal with olim. It seems that their services will be in considerably less demand…
