Dear Friends, Clients and Colleagues,

We wanted to bring to your attention two important matters that were discussed by the Head of the Israel Tax Authority, Mr. Shay Aharonovitz, in the annual meeting of the Tax Committee of the Israeli Bar, held on 5^th of September 2024.

1. Estate Tax legislation is not on the Table.

Towards the discussions on the 2025 budget plan, there were several news items and articles raising the possibility that the government will introduce new estate tax legislation in order to meet the fiscal deficit targets.

The Head of the Israel Tax Authority addressed this issue in his presentation at the annual meeting, stating that although the idea of estate tax legislation had been raised, there is currently no initiative to introduce such a law in Israel and that the Israeli Tax Authority opposes the introduction of such a legislation.

2. A Voluntary Disclosure procedure will be published within the next few weeks.

In May 2024, the Head of the Israel Tax Authority, Mr. Aharonovitz, announced that a new procedure for a voluntary disclosure program will soon be issued. The new voluntary disclosure program should enable taxpayers to settle unreported income, including unreported income and gains from cryptocurrency transactions.

Despite being announced in May 2024, the Voluntary Disclosure procedure has not yet been published.

In his presentation at the annual meeting, the Head of the Israel Tax Authority explained that legal difficulties delayed the publication of the Voluntary Disclosure procedure, and that since these legal difficulties were recently resolved, the procedure is expected to be published within the next few weeks.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or if you require any clarification regarding the above.

Sincerely,
The Tax Department