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Translating an electric bill – when do you need a notary public?

Michael Decker
Michael Decker

Many think that notarized translation of documents is mainly for personal or legal documents such as a birth certificate, bill of divorce or will. And these documents are indeed required in many cases, such as obtaining a foreign passport or probating the will of a relative who passed away abroad. But did you know that there are cases in which much more simple, basic documents require translation, documents such as the electricity bill that we get every month or two?

In this article, we will explain when translating an electric bill is required. Before that, we remind you that if you need notarized translation of an electricity bill or any other document, you are invited to contact us and the staff in our office will be glad to help.

Translating an electric bill

Translation of bills – when is it needed and why is it required?

We are used to looking at documents like the electricity bill as a basic demand for payment. After the payment, the receipt proves that we did in fact pay what we owed to the company, and that’s the end of the story. Most of us don’t realize that documents of this type have another important meaning – proof of a center of life in the State of Israel.

That is, the regular electricity bill that comes every month and is paid on time can prove that a certain person lives in a certain place or that a company or business conducts their activities (or at least the majority of them) within the country’s borders or, more specifically, in a certain town or at a certain address. Here are two common cases in which translation of the bill is needed to prove place of residence/address:

  • To prove center of life for the bearer of a foreign passport: Someone who holds a European passport may be faced with a demand to pay taxes in the country of which they are a citizen. Of course there is no need to pay if they do not live and earn money there in practice, but in order to cancel the demand they must present a translation of their Israeli electricity bill to prove that they do not in fact live in Europe.
  • For a business to prove ongoing activity in Israel: A business with branches in locations other than Israel will also be required to pay taxes in those countries. There are cases in which this activity is negligible, and thus the payment demand is not justified. In such cases, the business must prove that the majority of its activity is in Israel.

These are the most common instances, but it is important to know that there are many other circumstances requiring notary translation of an electric bill, such as cases in which we need to prove that we are living abroad in order to avoid paying taxes in Israel (then we must show an electric bill of the country where we are living and translate it to Hebrew, especially if the bill is not in English).

The quantity of required documents varies

It is important to understand that there are no precise rules regarding the documents that require translation, and while one entity in a certain country may settle for a single electric bill, an entity in another country will want to see a series of payments of the electric bill over several months.

A word about notary translation and the work of a notary public

A notary public is an attorney who has undergone special training and is authorized to fill the position. One of the notary public’s main powers is to certify translations of official documents. Remember that in such cases, a regular translation is inadequate, and no official body in any country will accept a translation (no matter how professional) without notarization. This is because there is no way to know that the translated text in fact matches the original text precisely, and even whether it is an official or original document.

Translation of an electric bill can save you a lot of money in unnecessary tax payments, as well as effort in dealing with authorities in various countries. Contact our offices today and our staff will be happy to examine each instance in detail and translate the required documents for you.

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