A quarter of the ransom cases in the income tax were suspected of omitting income from rent – according to the file of decisions of the ransom committees for 2018, published yesterday by the Tax Authority.The file contains 216 decisions, of which 89 decisions in income tax cases (23 of them in respect of rent) and real estate taxation, 124 decisions in customs and VAT cases and 3 joint decisions. According to the tax laws, one way to end investigation cases on suspicion of tax offenses is the ransom procedure. For this purpose, the Authority has ransom committees that deal with income tax and real estate taxation issues and ransom committees that deal with VAT, customs and purchase tax issues. It should be noted that the amount of the ransom imposed is in addition to the demand for payment of the tax, paid in the civil proceeding.
In the decisions: Five cases for smuggling cigarettes by EPA employees. In August 2016, an affair was published in which the suspicion arose that EPA employees smuggled cigarettes to Israel, which they loaded from oil and gas tankers moored near the company’s compound.
Five of the suspects in the affair reached a ransom arrangement, in which they paid a total of NIS 100,000, and their work in the company was stopped immediately.
In the case of Prof. Mordechai Ravid, a senior physician and former director of Maayan Hayeshua Hospital, it was agreed to pay a ransom of a quarter of a million shekels for tax evasion in this amount in the years 2010-2014.
The highest ransom, in the amount of NIS 900,000, was imposed on Alon Barzani and Barzani Transportation Ltd., from the southern region, for unlawfully deducting input tax in the years 2015-2014.
The severity of the offense is being considered
The Tax Authority notes that in order to formulate administrative discretion in imposing a ransom, the severity of the offense, the extent of the suspect’s involvement in the offense, previous convictions, past ransom payments, personal situation, family members dependent on the suspect, public interest in prosecution, removal of default In the offense of representing in the performance of his duties.
Duty of trust
Further consideration is given to whether this is an area that has a duty of trust or fidelity, the need for deterrence in the same industry, the existence of offenses under other laws beyond offenses under tax law, and other considerations.