Reforms to the Israeli income tax

Abstract

Income tax is a major component of state revenues, earmarked to finance the services provided by the government. Income taxes have a significant impact, among other things, on economic growth and income distribution. According to economic theory, personal income tax—perceived as progressive tax—is the main policy tool of the governments of developed countries and is aimed at reducing inequality in income distribution. The Israeli in- come tax has been through major reforms in the last decade and a half. These reforms include a reduction in income tax exemp- tions, steadily decreasing tax rates, simplification of tax calculation rules, reallocation of resources from the public and revenue sharing by reducing the income tax burden on the middle classes, a transfer from territorially based taxation of income earned or accrued in Israel to personally based taxation of income of Israeli residents, regardless of the place of earning the income. The result of changing the tax system and the transition to taxation on a personal basis means, in practice, an expansion of the tax base in Israel. This paper aims to describe the income tax prior to the reforms and the major reforms that had taken place up to 2017.