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Latest Updates / Internet
February 6, 2017
Taxation Factors for Operations Over the Internet
The explosion of e-commerce in the last 15 years has made it easier than ever to manage the logistics of doing business in multiple countries. The global reach it creates, though, has spawned a litany of tax questions. You need to determine which jurisdictions have the authority to tax you and your business activity and what taxes apply. Your physical location and your end-customer locations can impact what you pay to whom, but other factors might also apply. Managing this process is critical to your continued e-commerce operations.
February 5, 2017
Doing Business in Israel – Practical Law
Doing Business in Israel? A QA guide to doing business in Israel written by Barnea was published in the Practical Law website. The guide gives an overview of the legal system, foreign investment, regulation, and other issues pertaining to Israel.
January 25, 2017
Navigating Anti-Spam Legislation
Spam consists of unsolicited text messages, email messages, faxes or auto-dial calls that are sent for commercial purposes. Due to the ease and low cost in which e-mails can be sent, e-mails are the main focus of any discussion concerning spam. In Israel and around the world, preventing unsolicited e-mails has gained attention as creating serious privacy concerns – in connection with the sending of unsolicited e-mails as well as in connection with the manner in which the e-mail addresses are gathered for the purpose of sending the e-mails. In order to tackle these issues, laws against spam were enacted across the world.
January 24, 2017
Israel Seeks Tax on Bitcoin, Virtual Currency Transactions
Adv. Harel Perlmutter, Head of the Tax Department at Barnea, was interview by Bloomberg regarding a draft circular of the Israel Tax Authority on taxation of virtual currencies (bitcoins and the like). Harel commented that the draft imposes almost insurmountable restrictions on the use of virtual currencies in Israel, due to the liabilities and costs involved.
January 22, 2017
Draft Circular on Taxation of Activities Using Virtual Currencies
The Israel Tax Authority published a draft circular on taxation of virtual currencies (bitcoins and the like). According to the Draft, the ITA’s position is that virtual currencies should be deemed “assets” and not as currency or foreign currency or even as financial instruments.
December 18, 2016
Create Effective Website Terms and Conditions
Your website exists to help your clients and customers find and interact with you. You may include e-commerce capabilities, or you may primarily seek to inform people about your company and your products and services. Whatever your goals are, though, you must be on guard; people naturally seek to rely on what they see online. This can be a good thing, but you need to create parameters around what they can and cannot rely on your site to do.
December 8, 2016
Three Technological Predictions for the Next 5 Years
The world around us is changing. In labs and living rooms around the world, people are creating new technologies and finding new applications for existing and emerging technologies. The products and services available to everyone thus expand exponentially every year. In the next five years, then, you can expect massive growth in what we can do. Three areas in particular will provide important developments.
September 21, 2016
Deadline Extension for Making Internet Websites and Mobile Applications Accessible to People With Disabilities
A few days ago the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee enacted an amendment to Section 35 of the website accessibility regulations, called "the Equal Rights for People with Disabilities (Service Accessibility Adjustments) Regulations 5773-2013" (the “Regulations”).
August 31, 2016
Amendment to the “Anti-Spam Law”
The Knesset's new anti-spam legislation includes any advertisement disseminated to the public at large that asks for a contribution or that constitutes non-commercial propaganda.
August 9, 2016
Israel's Leadership in the Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as a popular technology buzzword in the last decade. As with many such phrases, it has garnered widespread usage with little understanding of what it actually signifies. Far from meaningless terminology, though, IoT already pervades the consumer marketplace, and growth opportunities abound. Israels sophisticated tech sector provides fertile ground for continued expansion in IoT investment and development.
August 4, 2016
Barnea & Co. Represented Stride Gaming PLC
Adv. Karin Kashi of Barnea represented Stride Gaming PLC, an online Bingo operator traded on AIM, London, in a major transaction recently. The Stride group acquired the assets and shares of Tarco Limited and Netboost Media Limited for consideration of up to GBP 40.2 million. GBP 22 million of the amount will be paid in accordance with the 2017 EBITDA of the acquired businesses.
July 24, 2016
CySEC is stepping up enforcement of Israeli FOREX companies
The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has begun to increase enforcement on Israeli companies operating in the field of FOREX and binary options and promote reform that could hamper their operations. Our Head of the Internet Department at Barnea, was interviewed by Calcalist on this issue. He remarked that Israeli companies operating in Cyprus are examining alternative places, such as Malta or Eastern European countries in the EU.
June 27, 2016
The Effect of the Brexit Referendum Results on Online Gambling Companies
We were interviewed by Calcalist on the effect of the Brexit referendum results on online gambling companies. We expect that Malta can become an option for gambling companies who require an online gambling license from an EU Member State.
June 14, 2016
Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for $26.2 billion
Microsoft announced a $26.2 billion deal on Monday to acquire professional social platform LinkedIn, for $196 per share. Following this transaction, our Head of the Internet department at Barnea, who represents and advises Internet companies involved in mergers and acquisitions, was interviewed by Galatz radio on ”Good morning Israel” and by Israel Hayom newspaper regarding the transaction.
June 1, 2016
4 Things to Know About the Sharing Economy
It is possible to believe the innovations of the Sharing Economy are due to a collective and empowering business model that places the emphasis on the individual and that this is a revolutionary outgrowth of information accessibility. However, one would be dismissing the very economic fundamentals that are the foundation for future growth and prosperity of the larger global economy. There are four important things to know about the Sharing Economy.
June 1, 2016
Property Contractors may be breaching Privacy Laws
Purchasers of Apartments in Afula were surprised to receive a call from a mortgage advisory company, despite not having given the contractor prior consent to transfer their data to such company. The Ministry of Construction and Housing commented on this issue that "if necessary, we will sharpen the guidelines’’
The Privacy Protection Act regulates the use of personal information databases and providing this information to third parties without the individual's consent is illegal.
May 30, 2016
Israeli Securities Authority: Binary Options are Un-Licensable
In the last year, the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) has been reviewing license applications submitted for obtaining an online own-account financial trading license. As part of this licensing process, the ISA is intermittently issuing press releases clarifying various issues relating to the scope of the licensing legislation.
April 20, 2016
5 Steps to Increase Sales for Commerce Sites
E-Commerce sites of both B2C and B2B oriented businesses still remain a positive growth vector across many industries and concerns. This will continue as more and more locations are provided with access to the Internet and as the bandwidth available correspondingly increases. However, the rising traffic is only one small factor in increasing overall e-commerce sales.
April 12, 2016
A New Guidelines Issued by the Israeli Tax Authority
The Israeli newspaper TheMarker interviewed our head of internet department, to discuss the new guidelines issued by the Israeli Tax Authority, according to which shall begin collecting VAT and income taxes from foreign companies which conduct substantial business over the internet in Israel, such as Facebook and Google.
April 12, 2016
Taxation of E-commerce: Israeli Tax Authority Issues New Circular
A few weeks ago, the ITA published a new circular which provides guidelines for the taxation of foreign corporate entities operating in Israel via the internet