An arnona discount for disability in Israel depends on the recognised eligibility category, the person recorded as the property’s holder, the home and the relevant municipality’s rules. A diagnosis alone does not identify the discount. Medical disability, earning incapacity, a disability benefit, a blind certificate and recognition by the Defence Ministry are different forms of evidence.
Start with the current arnona account and the official benefit or recognition confirmation. Ask the collection department to identify the applicable category, percentage, qualifying area and effective dates. An up-to percentage is not necessarily a guaranteed discount for every person or every square metre.
Checked on 1 November 2026 using current municipal guidance, official recognition procedures and retained rights material. Municipal orders, forms and implementing instructions can change. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.
Which route should you check?
| Situation | Possible route | What must be distinguished |
|---|---|---|
| A qualifying full disability pension and earning incapacity | A discount of up to 80% | The earning-incapacity determination and benefit status, rather than medical disability alone |
| Recognised medical disability of at least 90% | A discount of up to 40% | The recognised medical assessment and local implementation |
| A qualifying child or adult son or daughter living with a parent | The disabled-child or family-member route | The benefit received, residence and the 2026 multi-child change |
| A holder of a blind or visual-impairment certificate | A discount of up to 90% | The certificate, actual residence and any shared occupancy |
| Recognised IDF/security-force disability or hostile-action disability | A separate statutory and recognition-based route | The recognising body, benefit, home and qualifying area |
| Retirement, income supplement or unusually high medical costs | An age/benefit category, income test or hardship committee | Different conditions from an ordinary disability percentage |
The categories above are a starting point. Ask whether the applicable discount is mandatory or discretionary and which current order governs the property. Do not add the percentages together. Interior Ministry guidance explains that arnona is administered by the local authority under the applicable law.
Parents: check the 2026 change
Bat Yam’s current guidance describes discounts of 33% for one qualifying child, 66% for two and 90% for three or more, limited to 100 sqm. It identifies the change as applying from 1 January 2026 and includes foster children and the requirement that the child live with the holder.
Haifa’s guidance also flags the 2026 change, including a qualifying adult son or daughter receiving a disability benefit who did not previously receive the disabled-child benefit. Older forms can retain the former restriction. Ask the authority to apply the current legal provision to the actual benefit and household; do not rely solely on an old printed leaflet.
Attach the relevant National Insurance confirmation for each qualifying person and proof of residence. A foster family should also provide its foster-status and property-holder evidence. A mobility allowance alone should not be assumed to satisfy the disabled-child-benefit category. If the benefit does not fit, ask about another applicable route, including a hardship application where appropriate.
Some discounts are applied using lists sent by the recognising body. Check the actual bill. If the discount is missing, contact the municipality with the current confirmation rather than assuming that a benefit award automatically corrected the arnona account.
Medical disability and earning incapacity are different
The medical rating describes recognised medical disability. Earning incapacity concerns the ability to earn and can be associated with a disability-pension entitlement. A form asking for one is not necessarily satisfied by a certificate showing the other.
The general routes distinguish a qualifying full pension with at least 75% earning incapacity from the medical-disability route. The latter can involve a recognised determination under different legal systems, including National Insurance, Defence Ministry or tax-exemption medical proceedings. Ask for the correct official confirmation, its dates and whether it is temporary or permanent.
The municipality’s decision should identify the category and applicable period. A pension start date and the date a medical rating was set may differ. Do not assume one universal waiting period or automatic backdating; request a written explanation of the period approved.
Cancer and other serious illness
A person with cancer may qualify through the relevant disability, earning-incapacity, benefit or hardship route. The diagnosis does not itself guarantee one fixed nationwide arnona reduction. A parent of a child receiving the qualifying benefit should check the family-member route separately.
Provide the official disability or benefit confirmation requested by the municipality. Where the issue is exceptional treatment expenditure or a serious deterioration in household finances, ask about the hardship committee and its income, household and supporting-document requirements. Do not send unnecessary detailed medical records through an unrelated form.
If recognition is pending, ask whether an existing certificate supports another route for the intervening period. Avoid assuming that a medical rating creates the higher pension-based discount before that category’s own conditions are satisfied.
IDF and security-force disability
The Defence Ministry’s published Rehabilitation Division instruction 80.04 describes confirmation for recognised disability of at least 10%, including the specified one-time-grant category. Its residential confirmation concerns one home where the eligible person lives.
The instruction describes a two-thirds arnona reduction on up to 70 sqm, with up to 90 sqm under its larger-family rule. Check the applicable household-count definition with the authority. The excess area is not automatically discounted. A percentage on a qualifying part of a home is different from the same percentage on the entire bill.
The Division transmits eligibility lists, but a missing entry, a new determination or a changed address may require an individual confirmation. The published procedure identifies the district welfare route and form ש/158/1. If a discount was linked to an earlier address, obtain the required evidence that it has stopped there. An ex-gratia recognition follows a separate letter and municipal discretion, rather than automatically proving the same statutory entitlement.
A further refund is calculated on what was paid
The published instruction 80.03 describes a further 40% contribution for the specified special 100%+ category, based on arnona actually paid after the municipal reduction. It is not another 40 percentage points deducted from the original gross bill.
For illustration only, if the qualifying paid balance were ILS 900, a 40% contribution on that balance would be ILS 360, leaving ILS 540 after the refund. Actual eligibility, covered amounts and approved payments must be confirmed. Preserve the municipal reduction, receipts and the Rehabilitation Division’s decision.
The instruction distinguishes the current year’s payment from old debts and late-payment interest, and contains specific handling and exceptional-case provisions. Ask the Division about the current submission deadline and procedure rather than assuming an unlimited retroactive refund.
Hostile-action victims and other recognised groups
Hostile-action victims use National Insurance recognition and confirmation, rather than a Defence Ministry document merely because the municipal category looks similar. National Insurance’s rights guidance describes transferring lists to municipalities and obtaining recognition documents when needed.
The retained material describes a separate further-refund route for the specified special-disability category. Verify it with National Insurance, including the eligible payment and current procedure; do not send an application to the Defence Ministry by analogy. Nazi-war disability, Holocaust-survivor and disabled Prisoners of Zion categories also have their own recognition bases and should not be treated as interchangeable certificates.
Retirement and work-injury pensions
At retirement, check the exact pension label, prior disability status and any income supplement. These can lead to a different arnona category from an ordinary medical-disability discount.
Current municipal guidance distinguishes a qualifying work-injury pension at retirement from a pension accompanied by the specified income supplement, as well as an old-age pension for a disabled person. Rate, income and area conditions must be checked for the particular route. Do not assume that every retired disabled person has a full-property exemption.
Compare the actual bill with the benefit confirmation. Read the retirement and disability-benefit guide for the separate issue of the benefit itself; a pension payment and an arnona reduction are not the same decision.
Blind-certificate holders and shared homes
The blind-certificate route is based on the official certificate. Ask for the current municipal form and required identity and residence documents. The retained guidance describes providing both sides of the certificate and identifying any roommates.
National and municipal area rules: the blind-certificate paragraph in the Interior Ministry guide to the national discount rules does not itself specify a square-metre cap. Published local terms differ: Tel Aviv’s application guidance describes a discount over the whole flat, while Hod Hasharon’s 2026 tax order includes this category among discounts subject to a local area limit. Check the current municipal order and the calculation on your own account; the national maximum does not establish a nationwide promise of relief over every square metre.
A shared flat can require an allocation based on the residents’ interests or qualifying share, rather than automatically applying the highest rate to every occupant’s full bill. A joint tenancy, spouses, unrelated roommates and the specific multiple-child provision are not interchangeable situations. Ask the collection department how it calculated the discounted area and amount.
Register the correct holder and keep the approval
- Check that the arnona account identifies the correct holder and address for the period concerned.
- Use the municipality’s current category-specific application, with the official benefit, medical-rating or recognition confirmation.
- Attach the lease or purchase document if needed, household evidence and any confirmation of no discount from a previous municipality.
- If represented, include the authority’s required power of attorney and identification.
- Save the submission receipt and obtain a decision showing category, rate, area and effective dates.
- Read back the bill and account credit. An application receipt is not an approved reduction.
Pay attention to application deadlines and required payment of the remaining arnona. Municipal guidance warns that failure to settle the qualifying year’s remaining charge can result in cancellation of a discount. Applying or disputing a decision does not itself suspend payment or collection. Ask about a lawful payment arrangement where needed.
Retrospective relief varies by legal route and circumstances. Apply promptly, explain any delay and keep the original recognition dates and evidence. A municipality’s routine application deadline is not proof that every late or earlier-year claim must be refused, or that every such claim must succeed.
Home relief does not automatically extend to a business
Some recognition-based business discounts have separate conditions, including tax-advance or annual-assessment evidence. The residential area cap and the business rule are different. Use the actual business account, recognition confirmation and tax documents, and ask whether the relief is provisional pending a final assessment.
Likewise, ILA lease-fee or capitalisation assistance under a Rehabilitation Division procedure is a separate benefit, not an extra line of municipal arnona relief. Confirm its current personal, ownership, payment and one-home conditions with the Division.
If a discount is refused or calculated incorrectly
Ask for the decision and reasons. Distinguish a dispute about the billed holder, area or classification from a refusal of a personal discount: the correct objection, review or court route may differ. Obtain advice promptly about the proper authority and deadline. A general email asking for help is not necessarily a valid statutory objection.
National Insurance confirmations can be requested through its official services or *6050; the Rehabilitation Division’s listed service number is *8150. The municipality decides and records the arnona charge. Check the account after a correction and retain the payment or credit evidence.
For the wider bill, see how arnona is calculated. A household that does not fit these categories may also need to compare the separate low-income discount. Use the applicable lawful route rather than adding several headline percentages.
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