Globes, Eric Mirowski, 11.03.2020
Can a municipality that erred and charged a better levy too low on an enterprise can fix the tax levy? A recent decision by the Central District Appeals Committee, chaired by Attorney Ronit Alper, states that the answer is no.
This is a case in which Aura Company, under the management of Yaakov Attrakchi, sought to add to a residential project it is building on Uri Maklev Street in the city, 50 apartments, building areas and an additional floor. According to the request, the municipality demanded a NIS 2.3 million improvement fee, which was paid immediately the next day. However, when the company turned to obtain the building permit, the situation became complicated. She was initially told that the permit had not yet been signed. A month later, Baure received an updated demand for the improvement levy that jumped the payment five times to NIS 10.2 million. The municipality explained the sharp change in payment by making a material mistake in the first calculation of the levy. The company did not agree to the new requirement and therefore applied to the District Appeals Committee.
Incorrect reduction made by the real estate appraiser
As part of the appeal committee proceedings, the local committee claimed that it had acted in accordance with the law. It should be noted that, as part of the Planning and Building Law, it has been determined that when a property that has been approved by a new plan is realized - that is, it is sold or whose owner utilizes the building rights - the local committee is obligated to collect project levy improvements. The procedure is carried out so that an appraiser is contacted who calculates the height of the required levy.
Once the levy has been determined, the commission cannot reimburse it for the levy unless it has received other directive from parties such as an appeal committee, a court or a crucial appraiser. According to the local committee, the Appeals Committee sided with its position that, considering the first levy it sent to Aura, errors in the land data and the plans applied to it fell, and therefore it has legal grounds to correct it.Among other things, the local committee pointed to an incorrect reduction of NIS 7.8 million made by the appraiser. This is because of the company's demand to dig underground parking project, and to fund archaeological surveys where previously committed.
The local committee of the City of Judea claimed that the initial levy comes to only NIS 91.4 thousand per housing unit, which indicates how inconsiderate the first consideration is, but that their position was not accepted.
The finality of the debate overcame the truth tax
During the proceeding, the Appeals Committee examined previous rulings in the field and showed that the Supreme Court had previously held that the errors for which a local committee may amend the improvement levies are mainly technical. In other words, unrelated to the work of the assessor. The Appeals Committee wrote on this, which the local committee itself argued, "The changes made to the mole are mainly due to an error of judgment and an improbability in the outcome of the first assessment."
As a result, the local committee's appeal was rejected. "The interest in collecting tax is indeed a fundamental and important principle of tax law, but there are equally important interests, such as the finality of the hearing and the taxpayer's reliance interest. This is for definite reasons only, "the Appeals Committee concluded its decision and ordered the cancellation of the local committee's second improvement levy.
During the discussion, it became clear that Aura had their own misconceptions about the first levy. Accordingly, the Appeals Committee decided to transfer the first levy assessment to an advisory assessor's examination for the purpose of preparing a new independent assessment.