Lawyer Suspected of Faking Disability-Based Tax Break on Home Purchase

Rafael Yitzhak, a lawyer from Ramat HaSharon, was released today, Tuesday, under restrictive conditions after being questioned over suspected violations of Israel’s Real Estate Tax Law. The Tax Authority says he is suspected of abusing his medical disability to try to cheat the agency out of about 450,000 shekels in purchase tax.

According to the suspicion, in 2024 Yitzhak bought an additional house in Ramat HaSharon for about 6 million shekels. Because it was a second property beyond his existing home, he was supposed to pay roughly 480,000 shekels in purchase tax. About six months later, he filed a request to amend the assessment with the Netanya Real Estate Tax Office, seeking to cut the tax to about 30,000 shekels. He claimed the property was bought for his residence and that he was eligible for a disability tax benefit that does not apply to investment properties.

The request was initially approved, but a surprise inspection found that the house was actually being rented to another family, while Yitzhak and his family remained in their previous home. After that, tax officials sought explanations from him. He then produced documents including municipal tax, electricity and water bills, and an ID appendix, to support his claim that he lived there.

Authorities said their checks showed the address change was made only after the office contacted him, while the rest of his family still lived at the old home. Following the findings and suspicions of false reporting, the Central Assessor Investigations Unit opened a criminal inquiry. Searches were carried out, evidence was seized, and testimony was taken from additional people involved. The investigation is ongoing.