James Cohen, Head of the Private Client team, co-authored an article in the Jerusalem Post on tax avoidance v. tax evasion across Israel and the UK, specifically related to Angela Rayner’s recent resignation from her position as Deputy Prime Minister after it was revealed that she paid a lower rate of UK Stamp Duty Land Tax applicable to principal private residences, overlooking a second home held through a family trust.
“Few topics in tax law provoke as much public debate as the distinction between tax avoidance and tax evasion. Politicians, business leaders, and ordinary taxpayers alike are often accused of blurring the two. Yet under UK law, the difference is clear: one is legal (if contentious), the other criminal.”
“Israel has a general anti-avoidance rule (also GAAR) which targets artificial or fictitious acts. The Israeli tax Authority typically invokes the Israeli GAAR if an act or series of acts appear to lack commercial rationale, i.e. they amount to tax evasion not legitimate anti-avoidance.”
To read the full article, visit: Your Taxes: Rayner affair – avoidance vs evasion | The Jerusalem Post