Israeli BTC Investors Can't Pay Taxes as Banks Refuse Deposit

Israeli Bitcoin investors are unable to pay their taxes as banks do not accept deposits obtained from cryptocurrencies.

Israeli banks freeze up the minute they hear "Bitcoin".

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports on Aug. 6 that local crypto investors are unable to deposit the returns of their Bitcoin investments into bank accounts due to money laundering and terrorist financing concerns.

Those two factors reportedly result in the Israel Tax Authority expecting taxes from Bitcoin investors, who find themselves incapable of paying them since they cannot deposit the earnings resulting from their investments as local fiat currency onto local bank accounts.

In 2017, his bank, Hapoalim, reportedly started refusing to allow him to deposit his Bitcoin trading profits into the account.

Gross also met with bank officers and showed them 70 pages of deposit records of Bitcoin earnings, but the bank continued to refuse to accept the funds.

"I've tried working with almost all the banks, but the minute they hear the word 'Bitcoin' they freeze up."

Since he was unable to pay his dues to the Israeli tax authority, a lien has been put on his bank account, home, and scooters.

The outlet also cites the case of Roy Arav, another Bitcoin investor who held his profits on a trustee account at Discount bank operated by local cryptocurrency exchange Bit2C. Still, Discount refuse to move the money from the trustee account to Arav's personal account.

Because of this, Arav could not pay his taxes and filed a lawsuit against the bank.