Israeli Law Q&A for Australia Residents

The inheritance itself is not taxed. Australia has no inheritance or estate tax, and Israel abolished its estate duty in 1981, so neither country levies a death tax on what you receive. The catch is capital gains tax later: when you eventually sell an inherited Israeli asset such as an apartment or shares, Australian CGT can apply on the gain, and the cost base you inherit depends on when the deceased acquired the asset. Income the inheritance earns after you receive it is also taxable in Australia.

Yes. An Israeli keren hishtalmut is a provident-style savings fund, and on death it passes either to the beneficiary the holder named on the fund, in which case it falls outside the estate under Section 147 of the Succession Law 1965, or, if no beneficiary was named, to the heirs under an Israeli succession order. Australian heirs claim it by presenting apostilled identity documents and either the beneficiary proof or the succession order to the fund manager, then transferring the balance to Australia after Israeli tax clearance.

You need a separate Israeli order. Israel does not reseal or automatically recognise a foreign grant of probate the way some Commonwealth countries reseal each other's, so an estate with Israeli assets requires its own succession order (tzav yerusha) or will execution order (tzav kiyum tzavaa) from the Inheritance Registrar under the Succession Law 1965. The Australian grant is submitted as supporting evidence, apostilled through DFAT and translated into Hebrew. An Israeli bank or the Land Registry will act on the Israeli order, not the Australian one.

Sometimes, if you are an Australian tax resident. Australia taxes residents on worldwide income and lets a net rental loss on a foreign property, including interest, offset other Australian income, with a foreign income tax offset for Israeli tax paid. But Israel's 10 percent flat track on rent (Section 122 of the Income Tax Ordinance 1961) allows no expense deduction in Israel, and a non-resident of Australia cannot gear against Australian income. The interaction needs care.

You sign a share transfer deed, satisfy any approval and pre-emption rights in the company's articles and shareholders' agreement, and file the change with the Companies Registrar (Rasham HaHevrot). Israeli capital gains tax may apply, with buyer withholding under Section 164 unless a non-resident exemption or reduced rate certificate is obtained. The Australian seller also reports the disposal to the ATO as a CGT event and can usually claim a foreign income tax offset for any Israeli tax paid.

Yes, you can place a parent or yourself in an Israeli nursing home (beit avot siudi) or arrange home care, but a non-resident pays privately. Bituach Leumi's long-term care benefit and the Ministry of Health's subsidized nursing bed are for insured Israeli residents only, so expect to fund the full cost, commonly NIS 13,000 to NIS 22,000 a month. Australian aged-care subsidies do not travel, though the Age Pension can be paid abroad at a reduced rate.

Israel does not give you a fresh cost when you sell a gifted property. Under the Real Estate Taxation Law 1963, a donee who received a family gift inherits the donor's original purchase price and purchase date, so betterment tax (mas shevach) is calculated on the gain since the donor bought it, not since you received it, at up to 25% for a non-resident. Australia usually gives you a market-value cost base on the date of the gift, so the ATO measures a smaller gain and allows a Foreign Income Tax Offset for the Israeli tax. The two countries measure the gain differently, which is where planning matters.

Repatriation from Israel to Australia is arranged through a licensed Israeli transport company working with the Ministry of Health, which issues the export permit, and the Australian Embassy, which handles consular paperwork. You will need an Israeli death certificate, an embalming and sealing certificate, and a non-contagious-disease certificate before the sealed coffin can fly. The process usually takes 5 to 10 days and costs in the range of NIS 25,000 to NIS 60,000 with airfreight.

Technically yes, but it is heavily constrained and rarely worthwhile. The fund must satisfy the sole purpose test, so no member or relative can ever use the apartment, and the in-house asset rules limit related-party structures. On the Israeli side the fund pays purchase tax at non-resident rates, cannot use the reduced single-home brackets, and will struggle to open the Israeli bank account the deal needs.

No. Making aliyah and acquiring Israeli citizenship does not cost you your Australian citizenship. Australia has permitted dual citizenship since 4 April 2002, when the old rule stripping citizenship from Australians who acquired another nationality was repealed, and the position now sits in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. Israel also permits dual nationality, so an oleh from Australia keeps both. You will hold two passports and must enter and leave Israel on the Israeli one.

Yes. Both Australia and Israel are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a document apostilled by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is accepted by Israeli authorities without any further consular legalisation. The frequent problem is not the country but the layer: DFAT apostilles the signature of a notary or an Australian public official, so the underlying document must first be in a form DFAT can certify, and Israeli bodies will usually also require a notarised Hebrew translation. Getting the notarisation order wrong is the most common reason an Australian apostille is later rejected by an Israeli registry.

Yes. Under the Companies Law 1999 an Australian can own 100% of an Israeli company and serve as its sole director without an Israeli partner, and the day-to-day management can be done remotely. But two things are unavoidable: the company must keep a registered office in Israel, and because it is incorporated in Israel it is an Israeli tax resident paying 23% corporate tax — while Australia's controlled-foreign-company rules may also reach its profits.