The Treasury surrendered: A few days before an updated legal memorandum regarding the zero-rate VAT benefit is to be published - today (Tuesday) the Ministry of Finance published a number of changes made to the new memorandum.
The main changes determine that anyone who has not served in the army or in civilian national service will be eligible for a benefit when purchasing an apartment worth up to NIS 950,000, not NIS 600,000, as Finance Minister Yair Lapid planned according to the original legal memorandum.
Another significant change is the Ministry of Finance's decision not to issue certificates of eligibility. According to the new outline for benefit eligibility, which is expected to be included in the updated legal memorandum, no mechanism will be established for issuing benefit eligibility certificates as previously determined, but the state will be satisfied with a declaration by the apartment buyers on a number of questions that will be published online.
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This is a document that will contain questions regarding ownership of an apartment, past possession of the apartment, and other eligibility conditions for the benefit. This form will be signed by someone who considers themselves eligible and meets the criteria, to which the documents required by the purchaser will be attached, such as a certificate of discharge from the military or national-civilian service, marital status, and more.
The buyer will submit this package of documents to the contractor when purchasing the apartment, and the contractor will forward the documents along with the transaction report to the Tax Authority. The Tax Authority will review the buyer's declaration and determine whether he is truly entitled to the benefit, and at the same time, they will approve the transaction and determine that it is entitled to zero-rate VAT.
