I have always been skeptical about the rave reviews on the covers of books. "I just couldn't put this book down", may have been the first part of a sentence that concluded, "the kitchen sink disposal unit"; "His best novel yet" , could have ended, "which, given his other semi-literate offerings is no great achievement". So,…
Amnesty International
The casual observer may be forgiven for thinking that last month's announcement by the Israeli Income Tax Authorities of a new amnesty program for foreign undeclared income was motivated by the realization that if - as the US authorities close in on tax evaders - Israel does not act fast, all the "captured" tax of US…
La dolce vita
A headline on the front page of today's International Herald Tribune caught my eye: "Fighting anti-tax mind-set, Italy deploys new tactic: Shame". Given that this was Italy and that Italy is populated by Italians, the first thing that crossed my mind was, "Yeh..Shame they got caught". On viewing the accompanying photograph of a class full of angelic children…
The best of times, the worst of times
As 2011 prepares to hang up its boots, closure is finally coming to one of the finest specimens of legislative panic in recent Israeli history. With the coalition government resembling a concoction of weird and wonderful characters from the Complete Works of Charles Dickens and the middle-classes appealing “Please sir, we want some more”, the…
Season of goodwill at the IRS ?
“And to you taxpayers out there, let me say this: Make sure you file your tax return on time! And remember that, even though income taxes can be a ‘pain in the neck,’ the folks at the IRS are regular people just like you, except that they can destroy your life". Thus wrote American humorist…
Tax Break 