The Knesset's Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss on Sunday an initiative put forward by UTJ MK Uri Maklev to exempt Israelis purchasing a second apartment from acquisition tax.
The exemption would apply as long as the second apartment was purchased while the first apartment, bought in a "purchasers' group" had not yet been completed.
A "purchasers' group" is a group of people who purchase apartments "on paper," after which the contractor builds the homes.
According to Maklev, this law will provide immediate savings to thousands of Israelis who bought apartments with a "purchasers' group" which did not work out, and who want to purchase an additional apartment in order to save the money spent on rent.
The bill states that "those purchasing apartments via a purchasers' group often face difficulties in obtaining building permits, as well as in the construction itself. Sometimes, there is no progress for several years, and the buyers end up ignored, with no option to live in an apartment for which they paid a lot of money."
"According to the current law, if such a buyer wishes to purchase a different apartment so that he does not continue destroying his money by paying rent, he must pay acquisition tax at a higher level, since he owns more than one apartment. However, he doesn't have an apartment at all, and his situation is worse due to the money he already invested in the purchasers' group.
"Therefore, we would like to mandate that as long as construction on the first apartment acquired has not yet been completed, the second apartment bought will be considered as if it were the first apartment purchased, until construction on the first apartment is completed."