Israel Tax Authority officials’ have been advertising anyone required to report taxable income is well advised to do so as the agency is launching a campaign to target law-breakers.
The spokesman’s office for the Israel Tax Authority on Monday, 26 Tammuz announced it has begun getting serious with those ignoring the warnings. Among those in custody is a Jerusalem avreich.
The Tax Authority spokesman office released a number of examples of people whom have been tracked down and will now face the weight of the law for failing to report income.
“Brothers from Netanya, an avreich from Yerushalayim and an employee from Petach Tikvah have all been arrested on suspicion of tax fraud, trying to hide income amounting to millions of shekels in the form of rent. (Names on file).
The avreich from Yerushalayim reportedly receives a monthly grant of NIS 2,500. He was arrested on suspicion of failing to report millions in income which he received in rent payment for properties he owns. The Avreich is accused of hiding 1.3 million shekels of taxable income.
Tax officials add that in an effort to encourage people to report their income, over 100,000 letters were sent out to citizens, requesting them to file an income tax report. Letters were sent to citizens based on information gathered by tax officials, at times in the form of a snitch and in no small part seeing a person’s life style despite not reporting any income.
Foreigners who own four apartments are suspected of hiding 1.5 million shekels in revenue received as rent payments for their four apartments. A Yahud couple is suspected of hiding income they earned from 15 apartments they own, amounting to NIS 3 million.
A Ra’anana resident who does not file income tax is suspected of hiding NIS 1.5 million in earnings, once again from rent.
In some cases, the tax authority sent out requests to citizens randomly, which led them to some of the information reported above.
Y.B., 56, from Netanya owns a grocery store and his brother Moshe, 59, is employed in the store. Tax officials have learned they own an apartment in the city which they rent but they never reported the income as required. When officials began probing they learned brother Moshe owns no less than 12 apartments and has never filed income tax returns. Seven of the apartments are listed in his name and five in the name of a son. Moshe has not filed taxes from 2005-2014, and tax officials are now looking for NIS 2.7 million which he received in the form of rent in Ra’anana and Kfar Yonah.
It was also learned his brother ‘Y’ has six apartments in Netanya, and he is suspected of owing NIS 1.6 million. In his income tax return he stated he does not owe anything.
Another man, 44, was found to own four apartments yet he did not file taxes from 2005-2014, now suspected of owing NIS 800,000.
Regarding the 35-year-old Jerusalem avreich, he began purchasing properties ten years ago and has five apartments today. He has not paid any income tax since 2007 and is believed to owe at least NIS 1.3 million.
Another Jerusalem resident, 38, is employed in an import export business and is believed to have hidden NIS 550,000 in taxable income from rent he received on two apartments he owns with one in Petach Tikvah and the second in Beit Shemesh.
A retiree from Israel Aircraft Industries is also on the list, owning five apartments in Jerusalem, all being rented. He has not filed income tax returns since 2005 and is estimated to owe upwards of NIS 1.3 million. The retiree of the Ministry of Education has been questioned and believed to owe NIS 520,000 in rent income from his five apartments in Modi’in Illit, Beit Shemesh and Ashdod.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
There is more than one way to contribute to society. Clearly, all the hours the avreich spent ‘learning’ provides the same benefit to the government and society as if he actually paid taxes. No, more so. The tax department doesn’t understand this because they are self hating Jewish antisemites.
🎼🎶 “Honesty is emes, make sure all your words are true, so Tatty, Mommy and Hashem will be so proud of you”🎶🎼
What a beautiful Kiddush Hashem!
Gotta pay.
Shalom Whateva,
Before you accuse the Israeli tax authority of anti-Semitism, please realize that our Israeli government has to pay for garbage collections, street cleaners, police, the military, hospitals and even yeshivas.
The average avreich doesn’t usually earn enough income to file a tax return. But the avreich in question earned income from rent income from several apartments that he owns. The income, my friend, is taxable — regardless how meritorious it is to learn Torah. Where is the anti-Semitism?
FYI, I am an Israeli citizen who works full-time and learns part-time.
One important point that many readers may not be aware of is that in Israel, not all income from the rental of residential property is taxable. I’m not familiar with all the details, but if the rent from an apartment is less than a certain amount, it’s not subject to tax. I’m not sure if there’s a limit on the number of apartments whose rent is exempt or not, but that’s why someone not paying tax on rental income is not as “out there” as it would be in the US.
Another important point to note is that most Israelis are not required to file tax returns – so someone not filing for multiple years is not something that would arouse any questions. For the vast majority of Israelis, income tax is withheld at source, and that’s the end of it – no annual filing of an individual income tax return is necessary. Only high net worth individuals, those with certain types of assets, or with income from certain sources need to file.
Finally, the Israel Tax Authority (“Mas Hachnasa” or the “ITA”) is not known for their reasonableness. They tend to go on fishing expiditions regularly to try to collect taxes from any source they can, whether tax is owed or not. This does not justify tax evasion, but it does make any tax professional look at this story with a bit of a jaded eye.
an Israeli Yid, CPA (US)
Good for them. They thought they were above the law and I guess they found out they weren’t. They should out them away and sell the apts to people who need them and want to live there