Four months after the Israel Tax Authority introduced its voluntary disclosure plan for unreported overseas capital, there have been 620 applications. Tax Authority investigations division head Dror Daniel said in an Israel Bar Association Tax Committee panel discussion that the applications have yielded NIS 2.5 billion in unreported capital.
Daniel said that 70% of the applications were anonymous and that processing was moving ahead swiftly and that 100 applications had already been processed.
Adv. Shosh Shaham, deputy chair of the Israel Bar Association, said that the voluntary disclosure program had been a success. "It is possible to achieve fair settlements with the Tax Authority in this program and it is a convenient opportunity to settle the issue without criminal proceedings."
The voluntary disclosure program was introduced in September 2014. The program encourages people to voluntarily disclose unreported capital and receive immunity from criminal prosecution.
The program has an anonymous track although this is fraught with some risk. If a person takes the anonymous track and it turns out that he or she is already under investigation by the Tax Authority (even if he or she has not been informed), then they are disqualified from the program. But if a person identifies themselves, then they are entitled to join the program even if they are being investigated.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 26, 2015
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