Israel dropped customs duties by up to 10 percent today on about 1,100 items imported from European Economic Community (EEC) countries. But Israeli customers will hardly notice the difference.
Concurrent with the reduced customs levies, sales taxes were increased by a like amount on most of the some items. The bargains disappeared into the exchequer. Motor vehicles are not any cheaper today because the sales tax equals the amount by which duties were lowered.
The reduction of duties on European goods are the fourth stage of a bilateral customs reduction agreement signed by Israel and the EEC eight years ago. By 1989, all duties on European imports will be eliminated, except for a few selected agricultural products.
December, 1982, was a record month for tax collections on stock exchange transactions, Since the “Peace for Galilee” operation began last June, the State collected 5.5 billion Shekels on stock deals.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
