Committee advances bill linking tax evasion with money laundering

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Sunday advanced a bill to link tax evasion with money laundering.

The bill would set certain types of tax evasion acts as predicate offenses, meaning they would be considered as part of the larger crime of money laundering.

The bill, backed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, would increase information sharing with the Tax Authority and the Justice Ministry’s authority on money laundering and set tough penalties.

“This is the holy grail of anti-money laundering legislation, and is without a doubt the most dramatic bill approved in recent years in the fight against money laundering,” said Yesh Atid MK Mickey Levy.

Tax evasion, he said, is a social crime against the country.

The idea behind the bill is that it will help pinpoint evasion that may coincide with laundering, but also broaden the penalty on very high-level tax evasion – involving income of NIS 1 million a year or NIS 2.5 million over four years.

The law would only go into effect six months after the Knesset passes it in its second and third readings. During that window, evaders are to have an opportunity to come clean and avoid prosecution.

The bill passed the committee, headed by Bayit Yehudi MK Nissan Slomiansky, unanimously.