Etrog for $1,000: The black market that turns over millions - right under the nose of the Tax Authority
An investigation reveals the black economy of the Four Species market: tens of millions of shekels in cash, without receipts or reporting to the Tax Authority, in the few days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Traders and yeshiva students operate from temporary stalls, and the state struggles to enforce the law against a market that dismantles within two days.
An investigation by Israel Hayom exposes the extensive black economy of the Four Species market, which flourishes in the few days between Yom Kippur and the Sukkot holiday. According to estimates, tens of millions of shekels change hands in cash at temporary stalls set up mainly in Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, with no reporting to the Tax Authority. The traders, including yeshiva students and married scholars taking advantage of the inter-semester break, as well as veteran merchants, work intensively around the clock and dismantle hours before the holiday begins. The Tax Authority struggles to enforce the law due to the temporary nature of the markets, and traders claim that the requirement to issue receipts and report income is impractical for two days of trade. The investigation quotes a trader from Bnei Brak saying: "I pay my sellers immediately at the end of the work, of course everything in black, and no receipts are issued for this." Alongside basic sets, there is a "premium market" where rare and flawless etrogs sell for thousands of shekels, even dollars. The investigation notes that sometimes it is precisely low-income married scholars who are willing to pay high sums for a premium etrog, while wealthy individuals settle for more basic sets.