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Israel

Israel Tax Authority Raids Basketball Club Offices

October 26, 2009 · 0 comments

Israeli tax authorities have acknowledged a raid on the management offices of the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team. The team, known as מ.כ. מכבי אלקטרה תל-אביב in Hebrew is a professional basketball team based in Tel Aviv, playing in the Israeli and European basketball First league. It is the basketball division of the Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club. The team is considered elite, having won the European Cup 5 times since 1977.

The Israel Tax Authority was careful to stress that the raid is not considered a criminal investigation at this time and the police are not involved. However, according to an Israel News report from YNET, the ITA has announced that it will be conducting an investigation related to tax evasion and money laundering charges.

There are allegations that Maccabi’s former vice president, Moni Fanan, had been “investing” the salaries of various players but was unable to account for the funds. Speculation is that he owed more than $20 million at his death. Fanan hanged himself at his apartment last week.

The current Maccabi Chairman, Shimon Mizrahi, has publicly stressed that Fanan’s activities are not connected with the team.

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Ouch, sucks for Israel.

July 26, 2007 · 1 comment

Today is Tax Freedom Day in Israel. Tax Freedom Day marks the day of the year that a country, as a whole, has theoretically earned enough income to meet its tax burden.

In the US this year, Tax Freedom Day fell on April 30, two days later than in 2006. India celebrated earliest this year, on March 14. Israel is next to last on the list. Who suffers more than the Israelis? The Swedes. Sweden’s Tax Freedom Day doesn’t hit until August 8.

Of course, this is a little tongue in cheek. Not all countries collect taxes on the same timeline, so the disparity in Tax Freedom Days doesn’t really mean that the tax burden of a country at the end of the calendar is more than those at the front of the line (though it does make for interesting reading). But in Sweden’s case, it’s fairly accurate. The tax burden in Sweden is equivalent to 51% of GDP, which together with Denmark is the highest in the world.

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