The shares of the partnerships fell by more than 7% with the signing of the gas and oil payments by the Treasury • NIS 1.5-1 billion will soon be transferred to the state coffers
Whale natural gas rigs
Photography:
Mark Israel Salem
Yesterday, Finance Minister Israel Katz signed regulations regulating payments to the state from the gas and oil fields.
Immediately after the signing, the partners' shares fell, and when trading closed in Tel Aviv, they completed declines of more than 7%.
On Tuesday, a discussion took place in the committee for the gas royalties fund, chaired by MK Avi Dichter (Likud), during which it became clear that the finance minister had not yet signed the regulations. The current tax - a sum of one billion to one and a half billion shekels.
In accordance with the Law on the Taxation of Profits from Natural Resources, the owners of the oil and gas fields must pay a levy on permit profits according to the model set forth in the recommendations of the 2011 Sheshinsky Committee.
Regulations signed by the Minister regulate the collection of the levy already in the current year in which the receipts from the sale of oil and gas are received, even before submitting the annual report for the tax year for which the levy amount is determined (the report is submitted in the following year).
The regulations prescribe the formulas for calculating the amounts of advance payments, the rates of advances, the manner of reporting the determination of the amount to be paid and the payment dates of the advances, every 15 months, for the previous month, similar to income tax advances.
Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen said: "The new regulations will lead to the collection of the levy in real time. The levy profits that will be deposited later in the wealth fund will be used for strategic investments by the state and services for the benefit of the public."
"Collection of real tax"
The director of the Tax Authority and acting director general of the Ministry of Finance, Eran Yaakov, added: "This is a significant step that will ensure the collection of real tax in connection with the levy on oil and gas profits. We will continue to act resolutely to collect the levy for the benefit of citizens."