Over the past year, the Israel Tax Authority has sent out over 120,000 letters to taxpayers demanding information including 48,000 to multiple home owners that have not reported any rental income. Most of these demands have been answered and handled and so far 12,500 new files have been opened on home owners renting out properties and NIS 81 million has been collected in taxes. In the entire operation NIS 725 million has been collected.
Speaking this morning at the annual STEP Israel trustees and estate taxes conference, Israel Tax Authority head Moshe Asher said that 5,000 more letters were recently sent to those suspected of evading taxes. He said, "In Israel there is no obligation to file an annual report, however, at the same time, regarding people that have income but have not reported it, including real estate and rental related to it, we have begun a campaign with 118,000 people who are being asked to report.
He continued, "Among others, we found a man with many apartments that had not reported. We have targeted people with more than three apartments and asked them to report their income. Whoever doesn't respond on time is in a high risk of having criminal proceedings begun against him. We recently sent out 5,000 more such letters and plan sending out a further 5,000."
The Tax Authority's move comes after it found by tracking Facebook and Internet sites such as Yad2 for renting apartments that one third of landlords renting out properties in Central Israel and the Sharon region are not paying tax on their rent revenue.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 15, 2016
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