Israeli Tax Authority Reportedly Used an Opaque Automated System to Issue a Fine, Declining to Explain or Disclose the Underlying Calculation
An Israeli farmer, Moshe Har Shemesh, reportedly received a fine generated by a Tax Authority software system whose calculation officials were allegedly unable to explain. When the farmer reportedly sought access to the program or its source code to understand the basis for the amount, the authority allegedly refused, citing security concerns and the difficulty of extracting the embedded guidelines. The dispute reportedly later moved into legal proceedings focused on whether code and automated decision rules constitute information subject to public disclosure.
- Date it happened
- 2021-01-11
- Organisation involved
- Israeli Tax Authority
- Product, system or model
- Israeli Tax Authority fine-calculation algorithm, Israeli Tax Authority administrative automation system, Closed-source tax decision software
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