Tax officials crack down on local businesses

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Tax officials targeted more than 100 local businesses in a crackdown on tax evasion in Beersheba last week, reports www.local.co.il. The officials visited business premises, issued warnings and called a number of business owners and managers in for further questioning. According to the report, several departments from the Israeli Taxation Authority decided to carry out a coordinated crackdown on business tax evaders in the Beersheba area last week. Officials from the local Value Added Tax Office (Misrad Hama'am) visited 126 businesses in Beersheba and Netivot and found faults in five percent of them. Four of the businesses were found to have differences between the amount of money written in the books and the amount actually in the cash register, and have been slated for further investigation. The officials also located 24 debtors and confiscated five vehicles and NIS 27,000 in cash. In addition, officials from the Beersheba Valuations Office (Misrad Hashuma) set their sights on businesses that failed to make required tax payments or failed to present annual tax reports. They called in 23 business owners or managers for questioning over failures to pay taxes totaling NIS 1.3 million, and 116 business owners or managers for failing to present reports. The report said that most of the businesses managed to rectify their faults and make their payments or present their reports even before the date on which they were required to appear for questioning.