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Jun 5, 2011
Buying Tefillin From Sofer That Taxes
There is an interesting new initiative being pushed. The "Faithful To Torah and Avoda" organization (נאמני תורה ועבודה) have decided to encourage integrity in the sales industry of holy items, tefillin, mezuzas, etc.
This Video is entitled "Mitzvos Tzreechos Kabala" - Mitzvos Require A Receipt
Many businesses in frum communities are run out of houses. Some of them are legal businesses, and many, probably most, are not. It is enticing to shop in these stores, as they can provide the same products the local stores carry at cheaper prices. They do not have the same overhead costs of renting properties in which to run a business. And if the business is not a legal business, it can provide more savings in the form of sales tax avoided.
There is always a personal debate whether to shop in such stores. on the one hand you want to help someone trying to make a living. On the other hand, they are getting an unfair advantage in the sense of less overhead and often no taxes and perhaps those business owners operating "straight" need to be supported in their quests to make a living. On the third hand, if I can save some money, what do I care what he does. On the fourth hand, doing so is supporting a certain level of dishonesty.
While you might find a home business selling, socks, or shoes, or lingerie, snoods, sheitels, or whatever, this organization has found that it is very common among sofrim selling tefillin and other holy items. Perhaps one can say it is a bigger problem when the business is selling holy items, as such items should be produced and sold with a higher level of ethics and morals than a pair of sock or shoes. Not to say that with socks or shoes it is ok, but this organization is concerned right now about the tefillin you buy.
They point to the Shulchan Aruch, as you saw in the video, that says one who avoids paying taxes is stealing from the king, and this applies whether the king is Jewish or non-Jewish. Not only that, but without taxes there would be no education, no health care, no social services, and no country.
This organization is trying to encourage people to buy their tefillin only from sofrim that are legal businesses that pay their taxes properly. (source: Srugim)
What Do You Think?
What do you think? Is it the business owners problem and not the buyers? Can the buyer buy with a clean conscience taking advantage of cheaper prices? Should the buyer avoid it? Is it worse when it is cheftzei kodesh?
This Video is entitled "Mitzvos Tzreechos Kabala" - Mitzvos Require A Receipt
Many businesses in frum communities are run out of houses. Some of them are legal businesses, and many, probably most, are not. It is enticing to shop in these stores, as they can provide the same products the local stores carry at cheaper prices. They do not have the same overhead costs of renting properties in which to run a business. And if the business is not a legal business, it can provide more savings in the form of sales tax avoided.
There is always a personal debate whether to shop in such stores. on the one hand you want to help someone trying to make a living. On the other hand, they are getting an unfair advantage in the sense of less overhead and often no taxes and perhaps those business owners operating "straight" need to be supported in their quests to make a living. On the third hand, if I can save some money, what do I care what he does. On the fourth hand, doing so is supporting a certain level of dishonesty.
While you might find a home business selling, socks, or shoes, or lingerie, snoods, sheitels, or whatever, this organization has found that it is very common among sofrim selling tefillin and other holy items. Perhaps one can say it is a bigger problem when the business is selling holy items, as such items should be produced and sold with a higher level of ethics and morals than a pair of sock or shoes. Not to say that with socks or shoes it is ok, but this organization is concerned right now about the tefillin you buy.
They point to the Shulchan Aruch, as you saw in the video, that says one who avoids paying taxes is stealing from the king, and this applies whether the king is Jewish or non-Jewish. Not only that, but without taxes there would be no education, no health care, no social services, and no country.
This organization is trying to encourage people to buy their tefillin only from sofrim that are legal businesses that pay their taxes properly. (source: Srugim)
What Do You Think?
What do you think? Is it the business owners problem and not the buyers? Can the buyer buy with a clean conscience taking advantage of cheaper prices? Should the buyer avoid it? Is it worse when it is cheftzei kodesh?
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Hmmm, in theory it's very nice, but...
ReplyDeleteIt depends on how the tax money will be used.
In so-called civilized countries where most of the tax money is channeled into real services to the people such as public healthcare, education etc.), sonegation certainly is forbidden.
However, in highly corrupted countries such as Brazil - where I live - you can be 99% sure (using the majority principle and daily media evidence of corruption scandals) that most of tax money will be deviated to illegal purposes: political corruption, enrichment of politicians and associated lobbying companies, drug trafficking, prostitution etc., leaving the poor unassisted and causing great suffering at a nationwide level.
In this case, according to my Rav (who is Orthodox Sephardic and got his semichah in J'lem from Chacham Yaakov Yossef - R. Ovadiah's son), it is halachically allowed for a G-d fearing Jew to give his due Ma'asser to Jewish charities and try to avoid paying official taxes, as long as the risk of being caught is next to 0% (the reason being, to avoid "Chilul haShem" in case sonegation comes to light...).
My Rav also taught me that it is not only improper but plain forbidden, to waste hardly earned money giving charity to people who will certainly do someting immoral or illegal with your money, for instance one should not give money to a beggar who is known to buy alcohol and get drunk, or to a Jew who will buy pork meat. For Chessed's sake you're allowed to buy some food or clothes and give them to the suffering poor.
That said, I personally cannot avoid paying taxes, as I work as an engineering consultant with companies which operate with fully documented transactions, therefore I'm forced to hand over 20% of my earnings to a 120% corrupted government who will not provide anything useful in exchange for my blood (money is sometimes referred to as "dam"). I must pay for private school for my 3 children, private healthcare etc., so that I actually pay twice for these services - once to the gov't thugs and one to the real providers.
If I could save all tax money wasted throughout 25+ years already worked, I'd already have substantial assets, while all I have is one apartment and one low-middle-class car (not complaining, B"H I have evertyhing I need for my basic parnassah).
In summary: this subject should not be viewed through a "black x white" filter...
Shalom & be well,
R. Halevy
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I think the idea of using consumer power to influence positive moral, halachic, and legal change in popular behaviors is a great idea. I'm all for this!
ReplyDeleteHow ridiculous and scandalous is it that businesses purporting to promote and facilitate a mitzvah, do so while employing deceit and dishonesty of any form? Do you think they will all limit their deceit to the Zionist gov't whom they rationalize shouldn't receive their taxes? Do they not use the water, electricity, garbage pick-up, defense, etc? Do you think they can't rationalize deceiving the customer as well? (I can tell you a few first-hand stories 'bout that!)
I ran a small business at home in the 80s as a baal hagaah checking and repairing STaM in Yerushalayim. Nearly everyone in the business said that for such a small, casual operation (I was mostly learning and teaching back then) it was pointless to register for a tax number. They all said it would cost much of what I would earn. I spoke with a friend from yeshiva who is an accountant, and he was clear that it would be illegal to work that way. So, I got a tax number and issued receipts for all the work I did. Indeed, the accounting needs cost me much of my earnings. But I never, ever regretted doing honest business.
Honesty, integrity, and transparency should be the hallmarks of Jewish business. Anyone who learns Nezikin should see that! The pernicious influence of a long exile in inhospitable cultures has really taken its toll and left a deep, bad influence on our thinking. It is long past time to clean up our act.
One should distinguish between operating illegally and failing to charge required taxes, and operating legally out of one's home or other low-overhead model. No one need feel obligated to support a high cost business, if it isn't providing a level of service that justifies the cost.
ReplyDeleteMike is correct there are many home businesses which issue receipts.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me the STaM business operates trying to keep costs low to the consumers yet provide its practitioners a living. Not justifying it, though.
i agree. I said it too, at the beginning of the post, that some businesses operating out of the house are legal. nothing wrong with supporting such businesses, and taking advantage of their cheaper prices. However, most home-run businesses are not legal.
ReplyDelete1. I am all for it and I do not shop at places like that when I have a choice.
ReplyDelete2. Ma had an incident where she shopped at a similar place and when she asked who to make the check out to, she was told cash. ma said, if that's the case, you cannot charge me tax as you are just charging me an extra percent and keeping it.
It's all assur under genaivah. Acc to R' Cohen dina dmalchuta comes into play here and the gov't says you are not allowed. so if you shop there, you are participating in genaivah. it's also a shailoh of hasagas gevul from other jewish owners who are doing business legally as you are not.
This is fantastic! Thank you for posting it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel like I'm tilting at windmills when I try to make this point with people.
The level of unethical behavior that is, not just tolerated but, accepted at the norm in many segments of the observant community is staggering. It's even more than that, among the cadre of folks who behave this way you're made to feel as if you're doing something wrong or are just plain stupid if you try to behave ethically.
And then we seem amazed with the parade of high profile white-collar orthodox Jews that are are "sitting". (Yes, believe it or not that's the euphemism in the "velt" for being incarcerated.)
you can pay cash, as long as the business writes a valid receipt (or invoice if it applies). As long as you take the original receipt with you they have to report that cash to their hanchalat cheshbonot. (They could of course have a fake receipt book that goes straight to the garbage, and many other tricks, but it seems too complex for the average mind)
ReplyDeleteA better trick I've seen is for sofrim to have multiple businesses that are Osek Patur and therefore not charge or pay tax. I really don't know the ethics of that since it's legal but not in the spirit of mas hachnasa (assuming they have a spirit).
Regarding whether the customer can do business that s/he knows is illegal, we asked our rav here about since since when we were building our house most kablanim work in cash only. He gave the typical PC answer that there are two opinion, one that since the customer knows about it he is an accomplice and the second that it is the job of the seller and not of the buyer to do it legally.
rav alyashiv says this stealing is gelel gamor. the next time he will steal from jews.
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeletei'm "sofer stam". paying taxes from my first days as a sofer. it's pretty unfair situation when i have to pay VAT, which is buyer tax, but the costumer doesn't want to pay HIS taxes, just he want me to pay my taxes.
you can be sure that no one will pay me 140,000 nis instead of 120,000 nis because i pay taxes. he will buy from other sofer. so i have to pay from my part the VAT, in addition to other taxes.
my website is
http://stam4u.com/eng
i'll be happy if you can publicize my point of view.
tuvia