Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- P'ninat Mishpat
Case: The plaintiff (=pl) provides tax refund services, and the defendant (=def) used him originally to his satisfaction. For tax year 2009, he requested a major refund, due to receiving severance pay from three sources and becoming self-employed. The tax authorities’ (=mas hach) ruling was greatly delayed. Finally, the refund was rejected, mas hachdemanded payment, and they froze def’s bank accounts when he did not pay. Def turned to his new accountant for his business, and several months later received a refund of 18,000 shekels. According to pl, the new accountant complicated his ability to expedite the request becausepl no longer was able to communicate with mas hach as the legal representative and receive needed materials. That, along with the request’s complexity, explained mas hach’s delay. Pl claims that based on their old signed contract, def owes him 25% of the discount (4,410 shekels) plus penalties for late payment as stipulated in the contract), even if def asked someone else to continue the work. The fee is justified because pl receives nothing if there is no refund. Def claims that he is not contractually obligated because he did not sign on a contract for 2009, and his accountant could have done it for much less money. He had asked to end pl’s work, and he agreed to continue only because ofpl’s pleas and promises until he could wait no more. Def’s accountant explained that pl acted ineffectively, including that he did not physically visit mas hach.
Ruling: Def signed a contract in 2007 that included the conditions plclaimed. Therefore, when def asked pl to work on the 2009 taxes and he started working, it made their agreement binding, including that he cannot back out in the middle of a refund request for a given year.
P'ninat Mishpat (835)
Various Rabbis
389 - Going to Beit Din After Suing in Secular Court – part II
390 - Switching Accountants Due to Slow Results
391 - Responsibility for Electricity Infrastructure – part II
Load More
We conclude that while def has not provided sufficient grounds to deny paying pl’s fee, there are sufficient grounds for dissatisfaction to employ a peshara hakerova ladin. We note also that pl agreed to some sort of lowering of her fee in this case. Certainly we will not award plfines for def’s failure to pay to this point.
According to one of the dayanim there is another reason to reduce the fee. Pl claimed that matters were hindered by the presence of two accountants for the same client. However, pl did not inform def in advance of this fact, and therefore there are grounds to claim that employing pl in 2009 was a mekach taut.
Def is obligated to pay pl 3,500 shekels.
Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.
Moreshet Shaul Moreshet Shaul: A Crown and its Scepter – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 294-5
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Unsuccessful Transfer of Yeshiva – part V
based on appeal ruling 82138 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
