President Herzog presented his draft “People’s Plan” for judicial reform on March 15, 2023. But within minutes it was rejected by the government. You can read the draft plan in English here: https://www.mitve-haam.org/ (scroll down and click on “The People’s Directive”). We consider below some of the anticipated consequences for ... Read More

The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that a meat trader who also carried out some real estate transactions was in business, resulting in a hefty extra VAT liability of NIS 825,000. This was a VAT case but it is fair to assume the taxpayer, an individual, may have also paid ... Read More

Following the recent surprise collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a leading bank for the high tech sector, a number of Israeli companies have apparently experienced short term cash flow difficulties. This is despite the announcement of March 12 from US Federal Reserve Bank offering full cover for holders of ... Read More

As if we Israelis don’t have enough on our plate, an important Supreme Court case tells us what is food and how much can be assessed to 17% VAT if meals are provided at work. The income tax and national insurance authorities are expected to follow suite.  In short, will ... Read More

New Pension Tax Limits in 2023 Moshe Klempner and Leon Harris Inflation was the headline story of 2022, and we are all feeling the pinch of higher prices everywhere, but not all is bad. The Israel Tax Authority recently published an update for tax and pension contributions paid in 2023. The figures reflect ... Read More

In an important case for many Olim families, Esther Hayut, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, has ruled again that Israeli taxes are immediately levied on a transfer of Israeli real estate by a Canadian couple to a trust for the benefit of their Israeli resident daughter (Galis Vs. Tel ... Read More

Governing the Israeli people has always been difficult, but the proposed changes to the judicial system are proving especially challenging and divisive. The people are split down the middle, Israel’s economy and credit rating may or may not be affected, and the world is looking on. So what are the ... Read More

The Israeli District Court has just clarified a Supreme Court ruling on artificial or fictitious transactions under Israel’s general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) in Section 86 of the Income Tax Ordinance (Spector vs Large Enterprises Assessing Officer Civil Appeal 5366-05-20 of December 7, 2022). If the Israeli Tax Authority (ITA) invokes GAAR, ... Read More

What happens if you are resident in Israel and sell a home you lived in without proper planning consent – do you get the exemption from Land Appreciation Tax (LAT, or Mas Shevach in Hebrew)? Or do you pay LAT at rates ranging up to 50%? Over the years many ... Read More