Assessing the Perceived Fairness of a Property Tax by a Taxpayer Survey: The Case of Residential Arnona Tax in Israel

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 highincome 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.