The Israel Tax Authority on Monday morning amended its requirements for educational institutions holding Section 46 approval, which allows donors to receive a tax credit for qualifying contributions.
The move was initiated in April by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, in an attempt to harm haredi yeshivas' funding.
The new requirements, which until now applied only to new institutions seeking to obtain the approval, will now also apply to existing yeshivas and institutions that already hold it.
Under the new requirements, institutions will be required to declare that no draft evaders or students who have not regularized their status with the IDF are studying at their institutions. In addition, they will be required to commit that going forward, they will not accept students whose military status has not been regularized.
As part of the process, the institutions will be required to submit lists of students together with their ID numbers. Students will be required to present documentation proving that their military status has been regularized - either military ID, exemption certificate, discharge certificate, or documentation specifying their enlistment date.
The requirements could have financial implications for the institutions, since failure to comply could result in the revocation of their Section 46 approval. The approval allows donors to receive an income tax credit for donations to the institution and is used by the institutions as part of their fundraising efforts.
The move expands the review to institutions that have already received Section 46 approval in the past. As a result, for the first time, existing institutions will also be required to verify and report the military status of their students as a condition for retaining their approval.