A bill granting a negative income tax for workers whose gross monthly income is between NIS 5,000 (approximately $1,250) and NIS 1,725 ($ 431) passed its second and final readings in the Knesset on Tuesday.
The new law only applies to workers, including self-employed, in communities implementing the Wisconsin privatized welfare-to-work plan and is not granted to those who are jobless. Those who are eligible are age 23 and older with children, and workers and self-employed workers age 56 and older who do not have children (or whose children are older than age 19). The benefit will come in the form of a grant in an amount determined by whether or not the worker has children and if so, how many.
The grant for the year 2007 will be divided into four payments, each to be deposited directly into the worker's account by the government, to be paid sometime in mid-2008.