McCartney concert producer in tax evasion probe

The producer of the Sir Paul McCartney concert in Israel in September 2008, Boaz Zarzevski, is suspected of not reporting most of the event's revenue to VAT and concealing NIS 2.5 million in taxes.

Boaz Zarzevski is the owner and manager of Zarzevski Management and Development Ltd., which produces shows, including the McCartney concert. He is suspected of late filing in November 2008 and of a false report for September, in which he concealed most of the revenue from the concert.

The Israel Tax Authority's VAT office in Tel Aviv and the Purchase Tax office in Tel Aviv are jointly conducting the investigation. The arrest warrant states that ticket sales for the concert totaled NIS 24.5 million. Subsequent reports to VAT included false statements about the revenue so that they matched Zarzevski's expenses, and bore no relationship to the true revenue.

Zarzevski Management said in response, "The amounts that VAT believes it is owed for the sale of various tickets is different from the amounts that the producers believe have to be paid. This is an accounting matter dealt with by the VAT officials and the company's accountant, which recently sent all the revenue figures from the concert to the Tax Authority."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 22, 2009