The Marker, Hadar Horesh, 23.06.2020
Finance Committee Chair Moshe Gaffney promotes tax relief for housing enhancers: The proposal temporarily extended the period that allows apartment changers to sell the old apartment for the purpose of exempting tax. Apartments for the purpose of praise tax and purchase tax.
As part of the housing price reduction program, the previous government shortened the one-and-a-half year exemption period. The goal was to push the housing enhancers to hurry and sell their second apartment and thus improve the market supply of apartments . Over the past two years, a trend has been on the rise of the average length of time to sell a second-hand apartment, reaching 22 months. Even before the closure, the tax authority received several requests to extend the deadline for the sale of a second apartment and began to look into the matter, although the trend was to avoid relief.
The situation worsened during the closure period - in which the apartment market was almost completely silent - and increased the waiting time for the sale of the apartment. At the Knesset Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, the proposal was postponed to postpone the sale, after the tax authority announced that it was not in principle opposed to the proposal to temporarily extend the sale period. The PA intends to focus relief on those who have encountered difficulty unexpectedly because of the corona epidemic and not overwhelmingly. At her suggestion, second-home sellers will receive a six-month extension, only if the 18-month (one-and-a-half-month) extension to sell the apartment is over or ends between March 1 and September 1. Gaffney requests that the exemption also be granted to second-floor sellers in the post-September 1 period.
Builders in the construction market believe that the shortage of sales in the industry is spot on, as market data indicates a decline in the volume of new construction and concerns about the housing shortage. The final decision on the matter may be reached by committee hearings this Monday.