Litigation

It is a well-established principle that errors made by the authorities should not be perpetuated, and that there is no justification for the respondent to be bound by his or her error. This is due, in part, to the principle of collecting fair taxes. However, it has also been held in case law that, in addition to this principle, which justifies allowing the respondent to correct his or her errors, it is also necessary to consider the interest of the individual who relied on the previous state of affairs, prior to the correction.

According to Section 150 (a) of the Income Tax Ordinance, an attainment must be submitted within 30 days of the day the assessment notice is issued, unless an application for extension of time has been made and approved on behalf of a Reacher.

Section 153 of the Income Tax Ordinance establishes a taxpayer's ability to appeal the respondent's judgment on attainment to the district court. According to Regulation 2 of the Courts (Appeals in Income Tax Matters) Regulations, an appeal against the respondent's judgment on attainment must be made within 30days after the decision's date.

Section 158G of the Income Tax Ordinance states that the treatment of a request for a tax decision will be carried out by the Director and by someone he has authorized to do so on his behalf. In addition, in accordance with Section 158D(e) of the Ordinance, it is possible for the treatment to begin by an anonymous request. There are cases in which it will be decided by representatives of the professional division to transfer the treatment of the request to the tax offices and to treat it other than by way of a tax decision, in accordance with Section 158G(b) of the Ordinance. Tax Return 16/2018 on tax decisions centralizes and clarifies the instructions, powers, and procedures for the request and issuance process of tax decisions.

Accordingly, in cases where an anonymous request is received, the office manager will refer the applicant to the professional division, which serves as a "tax decision institution", where it will be decided how to treat the request. In cases where a non-anonymous request is received, regarding a file being handled by the tax office, regarding the tax implications, regarding a transaction or activity that has not yet reached its reporting date - it is within the authority of the office to treat it for the purpose of withholding tax only. In any additional treatment, the applicant must be referred to the professional referent of the office before a decision is made on the request.

The Israel Tax Authority has announced that it has opened the option to update bank account details in the VAT, income tax, and withholding tax systems in the personal area on the Authority's website.

This option is open to the public, including employees, who wish to change their bank account details in order to receive tax refunds. This eliminates the need to physically visit banks, which was required until now in order to update details. However, requests to update details will only be possible for banks that offer a "bank account verification service".

The update will be made by logging into the personal area, selecting the "My Bank Accounts" topic, and updating the bank account details in the name of the person entitled to the tax refund only. After updating the details, the Israel Tax Authority will check and verify the bank account details with the bank.