The Knesset Finance Committee will discuss raising the salaries of ministers, deputy ministers, and the prime minister. The announcement of the committee's agenda listed the discussion, but provided no other description of the amount of the increase and its substance. Salaries of MKs are legally linked to the average wage in Israel, while ministers' salaries are linked to the cost of living index. Since the average wage risen much faster than the cost of living, the result is regarded by government ministers as ridiculous: MK's salaries rose 3.5% in 2018, while salaries of ministers went up only 0.8%.
The result is that starting in January 2018, MKs will earn NIS 42,800 a month, while ministers will earn NIS 42,000 and deputy ministers NIS 39,700. The salary of the chairperson of the opposition is also linked to the average wage, not the cost of living, and he will also therefore earn more than the ministers.
The Knesset Finance Committee did not disclose who put the matter on its agenda - whether it was a request by one minister or a group of MKs representing one or more ministers. In any case, the subject will be on the agenda.
One option proposed to the committee is the linking of MKs salaries to the cost of living index, instead of the average wage - in other words, lowering the MKs' salaries instead of raising the ministers' salaries.
When "Globes" asked one MK whether the Finance Committee was likely to accept this option instead of raising ministers' salaries, however, he laughed, and answered that the chances of this were unfortunately very poor.
The Knesset Finance Committee is also due to discuss a change in the income tax calculation for the armored vehicles used by the prime minister, Knesset speaker, president, and opposition chairperson. The vehicles in which these four officials travel carry an especially heavy tax liability that can amount to NIS 12,000 a month, which is deduced from their salary.
The change in the type of vehicle, at the request of security, is causing a jump in the tax liability. The committee will discuss adjusting the liability for the vehicle and equalizing this amount to the liability currently applying to government ministers, whose cars are worth less than the four armored vehicles.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 14, 2018
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