This book describes how a social-norms model of taxation rose and fell in British-ruled Palestine and the State of Israel in the mid-twentieth century. Such a model, in which non-legal means were used to foster compliance, appeared in the tax system created by the Jewish community in 1940s Palestine and was later adopted by the new Israeli state in the 1950s. It gradually disappeared in subsequent decades as law and its agents, lawyers and accountants, came to play a larger role in the process of taxation. By describing the historical interplay between formal and informal tools for creating compliance, Tax Law and Social Norms in Mandatory Palestine and Israel sheds new light on our understanding of the relationship between law and other methods of social control, and reveals the complex links between taxation and citizenship.

'This brilliant book tells the story of how tax law in Mandatory Palestine was transformed from an intimate institution relying on the voluntary cooperation of taxpayers to a formal system enforced by lawyers. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the nature of law and in how to make a legal system that necessarily depends on voluntary cooperation achieve its goals.'

Reuven Avi-Yonah - Irwin I. Cohn Professor of Law, University of Michigan

'Assaf Likhovski has written a fascinating account of the development of taxation in a region that has long struggled with shifting rulers and divided populations. This book is more than just the definitive history of taxation in Israel. It is a case study on the cultural and sociological underpinnings of tax law itself.'

Steve Bank - University of California, Los Angeles

'Once more, Assaf Likhovski has demonstrated his keen understanding of law and its social function in Ottoman and mandatory Palestine as well as the state of Israel. This volume solidifies Assaf Likhovski’s position as one of the most formidable and important scholars of the legal history of Israel.'

Michael Stanislawski - Columbia University, New York

'In this ambitious and well-written narrative, Assaf Likhovski demonstrates his masterful skills as a legal and cultural historian. By analyzing changing methods of tax assessment and collection, Likhovski tells a compelling historical tale about fundamental transformations in Israeli law and society.'

Ajay K. Mehrotra - author of Making the Modern American Fiscal State

'Assaf Likhovksi has written an absolutely fascinating book. His exploration of the rise and fall of what he aptly calls the 'intimate fiscal state' uses taxation to provide a prism on the history of late Ottoman and British-ruled Palestine, as well as Israel. Everyone interested in the relationship between law and society, the history of taxation, the subject of tax avoidance, and the history of Israel will want to read this brilliant work.'

Laura Kalman - University of California, Santa Barbara