Intel Pays Israel Tax On Mobileye Deal In Dollars To Keep Shekel Down
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Israel sought to prevent the shekel rising further on Tuesday by agreeing to allow Intel Corp to pay the tax due on its planned purchase of Israeli autonomous vehicle technology firm Mobileye in dollars.
Intel agreed to buy Mobileye for $15.3 billion in March in a deal which, if completed, is expected to result in a capital gains tax payment of $1 billion to $1.5 billion.
Israel had initially believed the money would fund tax cuts, but the central bank was worried converting such a large sum from dollars would further strengthen the shekel, which Bank of Israel officials have said is “over-valued.”
The Israel Tax Authority, accountant general and Bank of Israel said in Tuesday’s joint statement that Intel will be able to pay the taxes derived from the Mobileye transaction in U.S. dollars “with the aim of preventing an impact on the exchange rate and over-appreciation of the shekel.”
The shekel has gained 7 percent against the dollar so far in 2017 to a 27-month high of 3.6. It is also close to a 15-year peak versus the euro and at an all-time high against a basket of currencies.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
