The national budget passed last week included an amendment to the tax reform bill that will lessen the financial blow to immigrants. A non-partisan group called the Tax Reform Action Committee (TRAC) had been campaigning for months to have several clauses included, and its efforts were crowned with a fair amount of success.
The campaigners had been warning that the law as originally proposed would have slashed the income of immigrants who receive money from abroad, forcing some to leave Israel and deterring potential immigrants from the West from moving here. Now, however, instead of having to pay taxes of 35% on passive overseas income, immigrants will have to pay a maximum of 15%. Additionally, tax authorities agreed to a "very liberal" interpretation of foreign pensions and retirement income. On the other hand, some immigrants - those who arrived in Israel over 20 years ago under the age of 40 - will still have to pay a 35% tax on certain overseas income, and there will be no exemption period of 10 years for immigrants already in the country.
TRAC noted that both the National Union and Yisrael B'Aliya parties deserve most of the Knesset credit for lobbying for the change and for finding solutions, and noted that the National Religious Party and Herut movement also had a part in some changes. Singled out for praise were Yisrael B'Aliya leader Natan Sharansky and his party's Knesset candidate Eli Kazhdan, originally from Boston, and MKs Tzvi Hendel and Yuri Stern of the National Union.