Will a new organization put an end to the increase in rent?

Reports of abnormal increases in rents are coming in from all over the country, well above the rate of increase in the index.

Tenants who are tired of calling to disclose the details of the owner, not only for the purpose of "shaming", but especially in the tax authority, which has great difficulty in reaching itself to those who do not own a large number of apartments

Roast Greenberg

06/06/2022

Monday, 06 June 2022, 06:57 Updated: 07:17

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Revenge of the tenants?

Angry posts are calling out bewildered tenants to report their apartment owners to the IRS, following the sharp rise they are absorbing in their rents.

Before engaging in the protest itself, it should be explained that the intention is not only to shame (shaming) service providers who take advantage of market conditions to expropriate prices, but mainly to inform the income tax.

According to the law, those who rent one apartment for a monthly rent of up to NIS 5,196 are not required to report to the income tax. Although they are required to pay tax on their income from rent, this is usually "under the radar" of the tax authorities

. Those who have long crossed the income months exempt from individual reporting (after all, in areas where the average monthly rent has already passed this threshold), do not rush to report their income, knowing that the chances of the tax authority coming to investigate his affairs are very small

And back to the emerging protest, which may not motivate the government to act, but may deter many apartment owners from expropriating prices that will cause tenants in their properties to report them to the tax authorities.

On the Facebook page of the 'Big Protest - Together we will lower housing prices' association, it has been written in recent days:

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Tenants face a sharp increase in the memory of the apartment (illustration).

Will the apartment owners who sharply raised the price pay an expensive price? (Photo: ShutterStock)

"The greedy landlords started a war with the tenants. So the tenants are returning to war ... Any landlord who tries to raise the monthly rent beyond the annual index - report it regardless of the amount of rent."

The association is the one that, together with the Beit Israel organization, initiated a protest demonstration for the increase in housing prices in August 2016, and even launched a mass fundraising campaign of about NIS 25,000 for its implementation.

However, it should be noted that according to the Guidestar website, the "Big Protest - Lowering Housing Prices" association, registered in Alfei Menashe, is in the process of being deleted.

One of the posts showing the high aliyah attached the remarks of Maya Nuri, a member of the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council, who appeared about a week and a half ago before the Knesset Committee on Addictions, Drugs and the Challenges of Young People in Israel.

Nuri said at the time, "I pay NIS 7,000 rent ... and another NIS 7,000 for private gardens. My partner and I start the month with a minus of NIS 14,000, but those who live in Tel Aviv probably laugh and say in their hearts that the prices I pay are cheap. The

expensive prices These are not just the property of Tel Aviv .... Generation Y, which entered the labor force after the crisis of 2008, is probably already addressing the fact that it will have to pay rent all its life. The situation is unbearable, and the state has to take responsibility for it, dear "Here, and it's hard here, and people will not stay here. People can not live with this uncertainty."

The various tenants report an increase of thousands of shekels in the monthly rent.

For example, one of the tenants describes that his landlord asked to increase the rent for the 4-room apartment he has been renting with his family for 3 years in North Tel Aviv by about NIS 2,400;

From NIS 7,600 per month, to NIS 10,000 per month - an increase of about 31.6%.

Even in circles far from Tel Aviv, they suffer from rent increases and join the protest.

For example, a post by the residents of Pardes Hanna Karkur and the surrounding moshavim reads: "Have you raised your rent? Stop being suckers ... it's time for everyone to report the rent to the tax authority."

The post also included the email address of the 'Justice Line', which is the Tax Authority's whistleblower

. 4 rooms

in

Netanya stood around the period of the outbreak of the corona at about 4300 shekels, and today stands at about 5800 shekels on average - an increase of about 34.9%.

Reach NIS 10,000 or more.

The Tax Authority: Those who do not own many properties, usually go under the radar and enjoy, in effect, "exempt income" (Photo: official website, Eyal Yitzhar, Globes)

The tax authority is unable to reach tenants of one apartment

CPA Eddie Kaufman, a graduate of the Tax Authority

, explained to Walla! Money that "the sharp rise in rents on behalf of apartment owners has not gone unnoticed by the tax authority, which is likely to increase the effort to collect the state's share.

But it is easier for the tax authority to find non-payment of tax from owners of 2 or more apartments, since the probability that their receipt exceeds the minimum required for reporting and paying tax, which stands at NIS 5,196, is high.

It has the ability to cross-reference information, and in the past a number of investigation files have been opened about property owners who owned 10 or more apartments, who did not report their income from renting those apartments.

Failure to report one apartment owner, however, whether they have inherited or bought it as an investment, is more difficult to locate, and contrary to popular belief, there are many such.

In this respect, the organization of tenants to report on property owners can contribute to this effort. "

The tax authority has already announced by the end of 2021 that it plans to report all rental income, from each apartment owner, starting with the first shekel, and that currently apartment owners who rent their apartments as individuals, not as businesses, are not required to issue receipts.

The Authority states that they will be able to cope with receiving any information from tenants, and cross-reference it with what is required, and that in recent years there has been an increase in the number of people reporting their rental income due to increased enforcement in the field.

Packing your life in cardboard and returning to live with your parents - Many apartment renters in Israel simply have no choice (Photo: ShutterStock)

A "failed" score for the Israeli government

It will be clarified of course that not every property owner is of course a "price extortionist".

Among the landlords there are many who rent themselves, who have had to raise the rent they charge to balance what they pay themselves.

Some renters also have retirees whose rent is a pension.

But alongside these, there are many property owners who have taken advantage of market conditions to maximize profits.

This matter in itself is not illegal, but if the income is not reported legally, then they may now think twice about whether it is worth taking the risk.

In any case, the current protest, even if it does not develop and become more active and effective, seems to reflect the growing frustration of those who have already internalized the fact that their own apartment is out of reach - and now have to deal with the fact that the rental housing market has become impossible.

Therefore: If the Israeli government needed another "wake-up call" on the issue of housing,

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