In historic move Habayit Hayehudi to support bill granting tax breaks to same-sex parents

Religiously-oriented party, which set forward two proposals to solve inconsistencies while staving off de facto recognition of same-sex couples, says wording of final law will be different.

By Jonathan Lis for Haaretz

Habayit Hayehudi yesterday decided to support a bill that would grant tax exemptions to same-sex parents, after vehemently trying to topple the bill with a compromise draft of its own. The bill, sponsored by Yesh Atid MK Adi Kol, will be brought for a preliminary vote in the Knesset on Wednesdau.

The proposal grants same-sex parents the same tax credits for children that are given to heterosexual parents. Habayit Hayehudi fears that Yesh Atid’s proposal may be viewed by courts as de facto recognition of same-sex couples by the Knesset. Therefore, the party had insisted that the discriminatory tax law be rectified by a special amendment in the tax code, rather than through legislation.

Habayit Hayehudi sources said late Tuesday that although the original draft would be the one brought before the Knesset on Wednesday, the wording would be changed in the future before the next vote, and would be based on an understanding of principles that would be reached in the future between the two sides.

At present, half the tax credit points for married couples for a child up to the age of 18 are granted to the wife only. That means that homosexual couples are not eligible for the credit, which in 2013 amounted to up to NIS 2,616 a year per child.

Habayit Hayehudi’s first proposal stipulated that the half point granted until now to mothers be divided equally between the two parents, regardless of their gender.

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