The exemption on investment apartments will apply until the end of 2012.
His plan for halting the rise in home prices includes ending the temporary
exemption on betterment taxes in December 2012, in order to encourage real
estate investors to sell second and subsequent apartments before 2013. The
current exemption(of selling up to 3 homes exempt from the tax instead of
only one evey 4 years) applies only in 2011-12.
The second measure aims to convert apartments used for businesses back to
residential use. The minister said:"Currently, 50,000 apartments or more,
mostly in central Israel, are used for businesses by dentists, lawyers, and
so on. We want to provide strong incentives to sell these properties by 2013
by giving a full exemption on the betterment tax," said the minister Israel Tax Authority director general is unimpressed by the above proposed
measure. He said:"I see almost no effect because I don't see these guys
selling their apartments so quickly,"(because the longer they hold on to
their apartments the more they will appreciate in price).
