Tax Authority

The Tax Authority, through the Jerusalem Customs and VAT investigations, has been conducting a covert investigation for some time into a complex and extensive affair, at the center of which are several Israeli companies in the textile field: AEDKT Tel Aviv, IL Fabrics, CNR Textiles, and MLA Zippers.

The companies are listed on the export quota within the QIZ (Qualified Industrial Zone) agreement, which is jointly held by Israel, the United States, and Egypt. This agreement grants duty exemption in the US on goods arriving from Egypt that have undergone a certain processing in Israel, all with the aim of encouraging Israeli-Egyptian relations in return for extensive economic benefits from the US.

According to suspicion, the Israeli companies carried out dozens of smuggling operations of fabrics and threads in exports to Egypt without undergoing any change or processing in Israel as stated in the agreement, all under a false guise and by exploiting the agreement and submitting false export declarations to the tax authorities in Israel. The scope of the offenses is estimated at NIS 27 million.

Due to the actions, there is suspicion of offenses under the Customs Ordinance, the Import and Export Ordinance, the VAT Law, the Prohibition of Money Laundering Law, and the Penal Law. In addition, the offenses may constitute severe damage to competition in the industry in Israel and abroad, and even cast a shadow over Israel’s international relations.

Today, the investigation became public – when the owners of the companies, Avihai Hamiel, and their manager, Meir Kaiserman – were detained for investigation. In addition, extensive searches were conducted at several sites, including the companies’ factories, and a large amount of material was seized. Subsequently, the owner and manager were brought before a Magistrate’s Court judge and released under restrictive conditions. The investigation is ongoing, and many witnesses are expected to be questioned as part of it.  
 

The Economic Enforcement Unit – North Lahav 433, in cooperation with the Tax Authority’s Haifa and North Investigation Officer.

Following an audit by the National Books Management Unit of the Tax Authority, in recent months a covert investigation was conducted by the Haifa and North Investigation Officer of the Income Tax and the North Lahav 433 Unit against 2 suspects for committing serious money laundering offenses, and income tax offenses by managing a business for the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco and omitting income in the amount of tens of millions of NIS.

Today, in the early morning hours, the 2 suspects were detained for investigation by Police and income tax investigators. Searches were conducted at their homes and businesses, during which a large amount of property was seized, including, among other things: real estate assets, a large sum of money, and documents, with a total value of seized assets of approximately 8.5 million Shekels.

The suspects will be investigated during the week regarding the offenses attributed to them.

The Israel Police and the Tax Authority work every day to locate offenders who harm the state’s treasury, through money laundering and failure to report income, all in order to increase enforcement, governance, and the rule of law in the State of Israel.
 

Jerusalem, 24 December, 2025 (TPS-IL) — In coordinated operations across Israel, authorities confiscated 46 vehicles, including luxury cars, from individuals with outstanding tax debts, the Tax Authority and Israel Police said.

Authorities said the operations aim to strengthen enforcement, deter evasion, and ensure accurate tax reporting.

The Tax Authority today launched a number of new developments within the digital system for reporting on leaving a job that went live in January 2024. The first development allows employers to report to the Tax Authority in a centralized manner the departure of a large number of employees, instead of reporting each employee who leaves separately, as was the case until now. This development will be especially helpful for companies that employ a large number of employees, and are required to report a large number of departures each month, due to retirement or changing jobs.

Along with this development, the option has been added for employees to perform all actions related to arranging retirement bonus funds (saving money for retirement, tax-exempt and non-tax-exempt withdrawals, severance payments) without using paper forms and without visiting the Tax Authority offices. Until now, a fully online process could only be performed in cases where the employee chose to save the retirement bonus funds for retirement.

In addition, the option has been added for software companies to report a draft Part A report on behalf of the employer, and to save the report to the interface for employers. In these cases, the software companies transmit drafts and the employer approves the report. The option is open to employers who have defined a file structure in accordance with the Tax Authority’s guidelines for transferring them to the digital system.

The digital system for reporting on leaving a workplace was developed by the Tax Authority’s Taxation and Auditing Unit and the Tax Authority’s Assessment and Audit Division in cooperation with the National Digital System and the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority. It was recently renamed the “Kochav System”, after the project manager, the late Avraham Stern, who passed away prematurely. The system’s goals are to simplify and streamline reporting on leaving a workplace, thereby easing the bureaucratic burden on employers, employees, and the institutional bodies that manage the public’s pension savings.

Additionally, the use of the digital system prevents errors in reporting and allows citizens to easily retrieve data from jobs they have left in the past. In addition, the system provides an improved user experience that includes comprehensive and easy-to-understand explanations regarding the significance of decisions made by the employee regarding compensation funds, which are embedded within the reporting processes. Since the “Star System” was put into use, over 200,000 job departures have been reported.

The Tax Authority, through the Office of the Jerusalem and South Investigations Assessor and in cooperation with the Investigations Division of the National Insurance Institute, is currently conducting an investigation into the disappearance of income of approximately 1.5 million nis by Hatem Tamimi, a resident of the Old City who is engaged in the field of renovations and construction. The suspect was taken in for questioning and released under restrictive conditions by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

The arrest request indicates that in 2020, the suspect opened a case following a bookkeeping audit, but did not submit income tax reports for the years 2020-2024, as well as a capital declaration that was required of him. In 2022, the suspect opened a case in the name of his partner. As part of the business, he performed renovation and construction work across the country for various clients, but reported only part of this income. As part of the investigation, testimonies were collected from clients who confirmed that they paid the suspect money for performing work for them. The suspect continued to perform work and did not issue invoices to clients.

The investigation indicates that the suspect did not maintain accounting books as required and did not submit annual reports other than a report for 2022 that he submitted in the name of his partner. Also, in order to hide his true income, he cashed checks at several currency service providers.

In light of the suspicions, an open investigation was opened in which searches were conducted and documents and computer materials were seized from his partner.

The investigation findings reveal evidence that the suspect did not report his income in the amount of approximately 1.5 million NIS between the years 2020-2023.

As stated, the suspect was brought before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, which decided to release him under restrictive conditions. The investigation is ongoing.

The Compensation Fund – Property Tax at the Tax Authority today opened the possibility for Farmers across the country to file claims for compensation for drought damage. Farmers in areas defined in an order signed by the Minister of Finance last July are eligible for compensation, and for crops defined in this order.

The compensation applies to the areas and crops from June 2024 to June 2025. The amount of compensation is derived from the amount of the “loss” that farmers suffered during that period, whether as a result of damage to the crop or as a result of a crop that did not grow, due to a lack of Rainfall or rainfall that did not fall at the right time. The percentages of compensation vary depending on the growing area.

Applications must be submitted through the Tax Authority’s online system. After identification, select the option “Indirect Damage/Drought Damage” and then the option “Drought Track – 2025”. Fill out the online form and attach the required documents.

A list of the required documents and a map of the areas and crops to which compensation applies can be found on the Tax Authority website.