Israel's Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon has canceled the 12% customs duty imposed on shoes. Cancellation of the tax will cost the state coffers about NIS 188 million in lost revenues.
Kahlon signed the cancellation order after conducting a hearing with the Israel Tax Authority on the matter, which also included baby clothing and accessories. The Tax Authority is preparing its professional response on the issue.
Kahlon said, "We are talking about a further step in the implementation of our family tax cut plan. Cancelling the import duties will bring down the price of shoes in Israel and is good news for consumers and families. We see the huge gaps in prices between Israel and abroad, and we are not prepared to reconcile ourselves with them. We will carry on with our policy of cutting import duties in all sectors that will not harm domestic industries. We'll lower prices for consumers and make life easier for working families."
It remains to be seen whether the stores will pass on the savings to consumers.
New Hamashbir Lazarchan Ltd. (TASE:MSZB) department store chain owner and CEO Rami Shavit told "Globes" "From Sunday we will already put down prices even though we paid import duties on the goods currently in the stores. We will sell the new goods that are yet to arrive at even lower prices because of additional cuts. We welcome Kahlon's measure and are happy that he has cancelled this distortion that for years has harmed our competition with online sales. An average Israeli family today buys 8-14 pairs of shoes per year so this is a major saving on their pockets."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 18, 2017
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