The Israel Tax Authority has caught dozens of taxi drivers who failed to report income from mobile phone taxi cab app GetTaxi. In an operation last week conducted by the Greater Tel Aviv VAT department, NIS 8 million was collected after 89 businesses were audited in various sectors by 102 employees of tax units throughout the country. One of the areas focused on was taxi drivers, who have a seriously high rate of 68% of businesses not recording income.
A source close to the matter said that the Tax Authority handed a court order to GetTaxi requiring them to hand over details of orders to the 3,000 taxi drivers registered with them. 50 taxi drivers were checked and it was found that most of them had not recorded income for many of their journeys. The drivers were handed fines and in the most serious cases files have been handed on for further investigations.
The operation is part of a broader campaign against tax evasion by the Tax Authority.
Tax Authority chief Moshe Asher said, "The Tax Authority is keeping its finger on the trigger and uses all technological means to make certain that all citizens and companies pay the true amount of tax and do not put the tax burden on law-abiding citizens."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 22, 2013
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