Earlier in the week, Finance Minister Dr. Yuval Shteinitz released the Finance Ministry’s master plan to extricate the nation from the economic crisis. Some of the main points include:

A cancelation of the exemption of 15.5% VAT tax on fruits and vegetables.
The tax on cell phones in the workplace will be increased to NIS 150 monthly.
The gasoline tax will increase 30 agorot to NIS 2.7 a liter.
Any lottery winnings over NIS 5,000 will be taxed at the rate of 25%.
An increase in tax on alcohol.
Cigarette tax will increase from 26 agorot to NIS 2 a pack.
Cigarette purchases at duty free will be reduced from the current two cartons to one.
Tourists will now be required to pay 15.5% VAT tax on car rentals and hotel stays.
Foreign athletes and journalists will begin paying income tax on the same scale as Israelis, up to 45% of their income as compared to a maximum of 25% today.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)