Beny Steinmetz Family Challenges $4.35 Million Tax Bill on Arsuf Luxury Villa Sale

Billionaire Beny Steinmetz and his family are contesting a tax assessment of approximately 4.35 million shekels related to the sale of a luxury villa in the affluent Arsuf community. The dispute is before the Lod District Court following a ruling by the Netanya Real Estate Tax Authority, which imposed a capital gains tax on the property sold for 27 million shekels. The family had already paid about one million shekels, leaving over 4.1 million shekels in contention.

The villa was originally purchased in the 1990s for 2.7 million dollars, equivalent to roughly 8.1 million shekels at the time. The appeal was filed by Leon Bouaziz, father of Agnes Bouaziz, Steinmetz's partner, through the law firm Amit, Folk, Matalon & Co. Bouaziz held the property as a trustee for Triodis, a holding company owned by Steinmetz. He sold the villa directly to private buyers.

While Bouaziz sought to pay tax as an individual seller of residential property, the tax authority treated the foreign company as the beneficiary of the sale, applying full corporate tax. The appeal argues this approach is fundamentally flawed, emphasizing that the Steinmetz couple provided all purchase funds, maintained full economic ties, and lived in the home for years.

Another key contention concerns depreciation deductions applied by the tax authority, which reduced the purchase value by about 4.76 million shekels, increasing the tax liability. The appeal states the property was used solely for private residence and family hosting, never rented or generating income, so no actual depreciation occurred. The appeal requests the tax committee to overturn the corporate tax ruling, cancel the hypothetical depreciation, recognize brokerage and renovation expenses, and tax the sale as an individual seller transaction, resulting in a significantly lower tax bill.