Tax Authority Gives Evaders Another Chance

The Israel Tax Authority has decided to give tax evaders a last chance, Globes reported on Sunday.

Just before the ITA’s aggressive pursuit of offenders goes into effect, a new “voluntary disclosure procedure” was announced that will enable Israelis who have failed to report their income and assets as required, to avoid criminal proceedings.

The new procedure has provisions designed to make disclosure easier, such as the option of submitting an anonymous application, and a fast-track application that saves form filling.

Under the anonymous procedure, which will be available for one year, it will be possible to file an initial application without disclosing personal details in order to find out the amount of the tax liability. The applicant will then be required to reveal his name and full details.

In recent months, Israel Tax Authority director Moshe Asher has issued a series of warnings to Israelis holding unreported capital overseas, informing them that the ITA is exchanging information with banks and overseas tax authorities to expose tax evaders.

Asher says they have already received the names of thousands of Israelis who have large sums of money in bank accounts overseas, mainly in Europe, and that it would shortly deal with them.

“A huge amount of Israelis’ black capital, amounting to tens of billions of dollars, lies overseas,” he said.

This article appeared in print on page 7 of the September 8th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.