Question:
I live in Israel and as the common practice is that the renters pay the property tax, I wanted to know, my municipality did a reevaluation of the property size and decided that we must also pay for the stairwell outside leading to the apartment which is shared by the four families. I wanted to know if that is included in my obligation to pay, due to the fact that it is not actually part of the living space, rather just the way to access the apartment. Can I have the Owner pay for that or am I still responsible to pay it?
(They are requiring us to pay in retroactively from 2 years ago)
Thank You
Answer:
The obligation on the tenant to pay arnona is because arnona tax is charged for the usage of the place. Therefore since the tenant is using the apartment he is the one who pays the arnona. If the arnona charges are also for the use of the stairwell then the tenant is the one who has to pay it. Understandably, you do have to pay the retroactive charges for the time that was prior to your renting the apartment, but only from when you assumed responsibility to pay the arnona
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