Tel Aviv District Court Judge Dr. Michal Agmon-Gonen today dismissed a petition by the Ministry of Finance and Israel Tax Authority to delay her ruling on Monday to disclose the companies that have received tax breaks in 2006-12 under the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment. She gave the ministry until Sunday to notify her whether any of the top ten beneficiaries of the tax break during this period includes private companies. This is a condition for a hearing on the ministry and Tax Authority's petition not to disclose the private companies which received the tax breaks, until a decision by the Supreme Court on the appeal that they intend to file against the ruling.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Authority said that they would publish the names of the public companies which received tax breaks under the law within a few days. They added that they would also disclose the names of the public companies in the list of the ten companies that received the biggest tax breaks in each of these years. However, they said that they would not disclose the names of the private companies which received tax breaks under the law, and the amounts that the private companies which were among the ten biggest beneficiaries. They said that they would appeal to the Supreme Court against the Tel Aviv District Court's decision.
On Monday, Judge Agmon-Gonen ruled in favor of the petition by "Globes" and its deputy editor Eli Tsipori, and ordered the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Authority to disclose the names of the companies which received tax breaks under the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment.
The private companies in the list of the top ten beneficiaries reportedly include Iscar Ltd., controlled by Warren Buffett through Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK), and Intel Israel Ltd..
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 11, 2013
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