Client updates

On March 23, 2018, the TASE board of directors approved the launch of a new index in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy and Industry.

New amendments to the Hours of Work and Rest Law regarding night work and the general permit to engage employees in overtime work.

The Knesset recently approved the Law for the Reduction in the Use of Cash. This law imposes bans and restrictions on the making and receiving of payments using cash and checks at the sums therein prescribed.

The Israeli Minister of Labor, Haim Katz, has signed lately an extension order shortening the work week in Israel. According to the extension order, the work week will be shortened from 43 hours to 42 hours, without any reduction of pay.

Recently, after initial approval by the Finance Committee, the Knesset has passed a temporary order to the Income Tax Law with regards to deduction of issue expenses. According to the law, the expenses related to issuing the shares of companies and partnership participation units on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) will now be recognized as expenses for tax purposes. 

Recently, the Knesset has passed the Law of Insolvency and Economic Rehabilitation – which is aimed at updating the law on insolvency currently in effect in Israel. The Law will take effect in 18 months from now.

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bits of Gold’s motion and issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits the bank from restricting activities relating to bitcoin trading in the company’s account.

While some uncertainty exists with regard to the regulatory regime that applies to public offerings of digital coins (ICOs), in the area of services related to digital currencies, regulations are expected to come into effect on June 1, 2018, within the scope of the Control of Financial Services Law.

On February 2018, the Knesset passed Amendment 66 to the Communications Law. The legislative amendment, colloquially known as “the Spam Law”, prescribes that when an ongoing transaction is terminated, a dealer will be prevented from continuing to send advertisements to the former customer, even without the consumer being required to send notice that he is opting out.

The Israel Tax Authority (ITA) recently published a draft circular for public comment on the issue of classifying residential rent income. The ITA states that, according to its reasoning, income from the leasing of 10 or more apartments should be deemed business income.

New updates regarding safety violations in corporations and change in the retirement age for a person whose child has died.

The State Comptroller, Judge Joseph Shapira (retired), published an audit report on the financing of political parties in relation to parliamentary parties in the 20^th Knesset for the period from April 2015 until year-end 2016.

In 2017, the Israel Tax Authority published a circular addressing the use of accumulated balances in central severance pay funds, and many employers began liquidating these severance pay funds. It is important to note that the liquidation of a central severance pay fund also has implications on labor relations with your employees.

The Tel Aviv District Court recently issued its ruling in a proceeding that has been underway for several months. The proceeding concerns a fintech company who filed a motion for an injunction that would prevent a bank from unilaterally modifying the terms and conditions for the fintech company’s bank account.

Online shopping websites not owned by Israelis, or whose owners have no registered representation in Israel (even if the website is offered in Hebrew), tend to enjoy a significant advantage over Israeli-owned websites. Namely, these foreign-owned websites operate according to the perception that they are not subject to the provisions of the Israeli Consumer Protection Law.

An Israeli district court rejected an appeal lodged by a person who was involved in providing pre-paid cards used for the purpose of wagering with online gambling websites. The court ruled that such activity amounts to aiding and abetting illegal online gambling activities, as well as contravenes the Israeli Anti-Money Laundering Act.

A number of changes in the taxation of residential apartment sales will come into effect on January 2018.

At the end of November 2017, the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset approved a revised draft bill to amend the Courts Regulations (Fees), whereby parties filing a motion to certify an action as a class action will be charged a court fee.

The Israel Tax Authority published a draft circular today about a sale of rights in a corporation when a portion of the consideration is paid to the seller at a future date.

In September 2017, the Electricity Authority published a Call for Bids for the purpose of determining the rate for electricity generation using photovoltaic (PV) technology at PV plants to be connected to the high-voltage and low-voltage grids.