Figure from article: Assessing the perceived...
 
HIGHLIGHTS
  • survey examines public perceptions of israel’s arnona property tax system
  • most respondents support linking taxes to environmental and service quality
  • 91% of participants favor tying tax rates to municipal service performance
  • support for socioeconomic-based adjustment varies across income groups
  • findings suggest growing demand for fairness in local tax policy design
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ABSTRACT
Understanding taxpayer perceptions of a property tax system is essential for developing equitable and transparent fiscal policies that foster public trust. This study explores public attitudes toward Israel’s residential property tax system, also known as Arnona, through an online survey of more than 500 participants, stratified by region of residence, age, income, family status, and homeownership. Although the survey participants were divided regarding the preferred basis for property taxation – a property value - (ad valorem) vs. property size (Arnona) based system, the majority of respondents (~55%) favored the current system, and ~45% supported its value-based alternative. The survey also revealed a wide support for integrating environmental factors into tax assessments, with approximately 75.9% of the survey respondents supporting the idea of incorporating green space access into property tax assessments, and 62.8% of the survey respondents supporting accounting for air quality. Support was even stronger for service-related criteria, with 91.3% of participants supporting the idea of linking the tax rates to the quality of municipal services. However, substantial differences emerged regarding the incorporation of the socioeconomic status of taxpayers into tax calculations. Although 59% of low-income respondents favored this idea, only 33% of high-income respondents supported it. In general, the study underscores the growing public demand for tax models that reflect environmental quality and quality of services, rather than linking property taxes to incomes.
eISSN:2300-5289
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