Tax Authority employees threaten strike this week

Israel Tax Authority workers called upon the Minister of Finance to utterly reject the Suari committee recommendations on the structure of the Tax Authority
 
The Israel Tax Authority workers who declared a labor dispute last January, with the full support of  the Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) said last week that unless the Tax Authority is separated back into its two constituent units: an Income Tax unit and a Customs and VAT unit, they would go on strike at the end of this week or early next week.
 
In a formal statement issued by the workers committee the workers called upon the Minister of Finance, Ronnie Bar-On, to utterly reject the Suari committee recommendations on the structure of the Tax Authority.
 
Nachum Friedlov, head of the worker's committee of the income tax unit, said last week that "The Israel Tax Authority is already in a state of complete crisis operating without leadership for months". He added that: "We are calling upon Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On to reject recommendations to unite the two divisions of the Israel Tax Authority into one organization and instead divide it back into its two units”.
 
The committee recommended the dividing of the Tax Authority into two units, reorganizing the hierarchies and the appointment of an income tax commissioner who would also serve as director of the Tax Authority.
 
It is understood that most of the public bodies that appeared before the Suari committee, including former Ministry of Finance director general Joseph Bachar, argued that the Tax Authority consolidation should be revoked.
 
The Israeli Federation of Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders who were among the first to appear before the committee made it clear that as long as the Customs Directorate is not given a complete freedom, the quality of import and export services would suffer.
 
The customs and VAT workers committee chairman claims that the Suari committee recommendations severely harm the unit's employees. Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On has not made any decision on the recommendations.