Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli gives birth to son, tax case looms

Refaeli welcomed her third child, but faces a tax bill of over NIS 16 million.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli and her husband Adi Ezra welcomed a son to the world on Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital. The yet-to-be named baby is the couple’s third child after daughters Liv, born in Aug. 2016, and Elle, born in Oct. 2017.

Refaeli was recently ordered to pay back taxes of over NIS 16 million (approx $4.5 million) for the years of 2009 and 2010.

Despite Refaeli’s claim that she did not live in Israel, records showed that she was in Israel for 185 days in 2009 and 131 days the following year. Those time frames made her an Israeli resident in those years according to Israeli law.

According to Israel’s tax law, an Israeli resident is liable to pay tax on all income earned abroad whereas a foreign resident would only pay taxes on income generated within Israel.

One of the arguments made by Bar Refaeli’s lawyers is that she was in a relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio during that period and that the relationship took place in the U.S., making the center of her life there with him.

Prosecutors also claimed that the model hid another six million shekels during a compromise agreement signed in 2009, when Refaeli argued that she had paid all the taxes she owed in Israeli and overseas income during 2005-2007.

Channel 13 reported on Monday that prosecutors are considering a plea deal that would include community service for the supermodel and 18 months in jail for her mother, Tzipi.

Refaeli’s mother is suspected of lying to authorities about where her daughter lived during this period. She also is allegedly hiding information amounting to an income of NIS 23 million for the years 2011-2012.

Neither Refaeli nor her mother has been formally charged.