You Only Received a Partial Exemption from Appreciation Tax? You May Be Eligible for a Tax Refund in Light of a New, Precedential Court Decision

Newsletter 11/2022

You Only Received a Partial Exemption from Appreciation Tax? You May Be Eligible for a Tax Refund in Light of a New, Precedential Court Decision

 

A few days ago, an appeal our firm filed with the Land Tax Appeals Committee in the District Court in Tel Aviv was accepted, setting forth by consensus, in a precedential, well-reasoned court decision, that at the time of sale of an apartment by several sellers, who do not constitute a single family unit, the appreciation tax exemption ceiling stipulated in Section 49A(a1) of the Real Estate Taxation Law relates to each seller separately, and not to the entire apartment.

As stated, this stipulation is subject to the fact that the sellers do not constitute a “family unit”. Thus, for example, at the time of sale of an apartment by a divorced couple, each seller for whom this is their only apartment would be eligible for the full appreciation tax exemption ceiling, in the amount of NIS 4.6 million. The same would also apply for sellers who are a parent and an adult child (above the age of 18), adult siblings and partners.

If you sold an apartment and received only a relative part of the exemption ceiling, even though you do not constitute a “family unit”, you may be eligible for an amended assessment and receipt of a tax refund based on the principle set forth in the court decision. Therefore, we recommend examining the possibility of filing a request for an amended assessment, subject to the statute of limitation rules.

For additional information, contact Adv. Sagiv Ron or Adv. Shiran Polishuk from our firm