Tax inspectors raid Tel Aviv luxury towers

Source: Globes, Tel Aviv, IsraelAug.存倉 26--Israel Tax Authority inspectors have launched a raid on luxury towers in Tel Aviv, after complaints were made on the "justice line" about tax evasion.As part of the Tax Authority's nationwide summer campaign, and following information obtained on the "justice line", tax inspectors raided luxury towers in Tel Aviv last week, and discovered many apartments that had been leased to tourists without the income being reported to the Tax Authority, often harming the hotel industry and businesses that obey the law.The Tax Authority said that, during the campaign, scores of inspectors were sent to luxury towers in Tel Aviv to collect intelligence. The buildings' maintenance companies and tenants' committees were asked to hand over lists of tenants renting apartments and lists of the apartments' owners.A cross-check of the information against data held by the Tax Authority found that several foreign residents who own luxury apartments in the towers did not report rental income from them.In one tower, si迷你倉 apartments were found to be leased without the income being reported. The income from renting apartments to tourists carries a higher tax rate, in order to protect the local hotel industry. The Tax Authority added that the review found that although the apartments were held by an Israeli company owned by a French citizen, he had no tax file at the Income Tax Department. It was also discovered that the building management company was not deducting tax at source.According to the Tax Authority's announcement, all the cases involved at least hundreds of thousands of shekels in annual income, and the aggregate tax evasion amounted to millions of shekels. In view of the findings, official investigations have been opened, and it has been decided to expand the checks to other luxury towers in Tel Aviv initially, and to the rest of the country later on.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Globes (Tel Aviv, Israel) Visit the Globes (Tel Aviv, Israel) at .globes.co.il/serveen/globes/nodeview.asp?fid=942 Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉