Before you start

A determination of your Israeli tax residency — genuinely determined, not assumed
A Teudat Zehut if you have made aliyah, or passport and visa details
A tax file, opened by your employer for PAYE or by you if self-employed
For arnona: the tenancy or ownership in your name and, for the olim discount, your teudat oleh

Step-by-step

1
Settle your residency position before your first year-end
The test is centre of life — family, home, economic ties — backed by presumptions at 183 days in a year, or 30 days in a year totalling 425 over three. It can catch a remote worker or a part-year homeowner under 183 days. The tax year is the calendar year.
OnlineWho: You, with an accountant if you have foreign income
2
If you own here but live abroad, count your days deliberately
The 30-days-plus-425-over-three-years presumption catches people who spend a long summer and a long winter here every year without ever passing 183 days in one of them. Owning a Netanya home strengthens the centre-of-life argument against you. Keep a day count and take advice before you drift over the line.
OnlineWho: You, with an accountant
3
Confirm whether the ten-year olim exemption applies
Olim and senior returning residents are exempt from Israeli tax on foreign-source income and foreign capital gains for ten years. It does not cover Israeli salary or Israeli freelance income. From 1 January 2026 new residents must disclose foreign assets and income even while exempt.
OnlineWho: You
4
If employed, file Form 101 and let PAYE run
Your employer withholds income tax, National Insurance and health tax monthly. Submit Form 101 at hire and each January so credit points apply. Most single-employer employees never file a return.
Via employerWho: Your employer
5
If self-employed, open income-tax, VAT and Bituach Leumi files
Choose osek patur below the small-dealer turnover threshold, which charges no VAT and files annually, or osek murshe, which charges VAT and files periodically. Standard VAT is 18% since 1 January 2025. Netanya's francophone professional-services layer means plenty of newcomers land here as sole traders.
In personWho: YouRegister before your first invoice
6
Register for arnona with the Netanya Municipality in your own name
Arnona is billed to the occupier, and where a property is unoccupied to the owner. Register with your lease or deed so the bill is issued to you — which also gives you the cleanest proof-of-address document in Israel and is a precondition for every discount, including the olim reduction on up to 100 square metres for twelve months chosen from your first twenty-four.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Teudat Zehut, or passport and residency proof
Form 101 for employees, or business registration for the self-employed
Teudat oleh for the ten-year exemption or the arnona discount
Tofes 106 annual employer wage and tax summary
Lease or purchase deed for arnona registration
A day-count record if you split the year between Israel and abroad

Things most newcomers don’t know

Owning a Netanya flat and visiting a lot is how people become Israeli tax residents by accident.

The residency test is centre of life, backed by a presumption at 30 days in a year totalling 425 across three years — which a long summer and a long winter every year will reach without ever touching 183 days. Owning a home here is evidence against you in that assessment. Israel then taxes worldwide income. This is the highest-consequence and least-discussed fact for the very large number of people who own in Netanya and live in Paris.

Source: Israel Tax Authority residency test; Income Tax Ordinance day-count presumptions

The seafront and the eastern neighbourhoods are in different arnona zones.

Arnona is charged per square metre by municipal classification zone, and Netanya's zones follow the same geography as its rents — the cliff-top and seafront districts are treated differently from the eastern ones. Two flats of identical size can carry meaningfully different bills. Ask for the classification and the registered metreage in writing before you sign, and add the arnona before comparing rents.

Source: Netanya Municipality arnona schedule; Israeli arnona methodology

The ten-year exemption covers foreign capital gains as well as foreign income.

Selling overseas shares, property or a business inside the window can be free of Israeli tax where the gain is foreign-source. Most olim know the income side and underuse the gains side, and against a 25% capital gains charge the difference is large. For someone selling a French apartment to buy in Netanya, the timing of that disposal relative to becoming resident is worth a serious conversation with an accountant.

Source: Israel Tax Authority — olim and returning resident benefits

From 2026 the exemption survives but the reporting exemption does not.

The reporting exemption that used to run alongside the ten-year tax exemption was abolished for anyone becoming resident on or after 1 January 2026. Foreign income stays untaxed but must be disclosed. Guidance written before the change implies 'exempt' means 'not reported', which is no longer true and can produce penalties rather than tax.

Source: Amendment to the Income Tax Ordinance effective 1 January 2026

Common mistakes to avoid

Splitting the year between France and a Netanya flat without counting days against the 30-plus-425 presumption.
Selling a foreign property to fund a Netanya purchase without checking the timing against the ten-year exemption.
Assuming the ten-year exemption shelters an Israeli salary or Israeli freelance income. It does not.
Comparing a seafront and an eastern flat on rent alone when the arnona zones differ.
US citizens forgetting that the Israeli exemption does not remove US filing, FBAR or FATCA obligations.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.