To sell and transfer title in Israel you need a small stack of papers from four different places: the Land Registry (a fresh Tabu extract, about NIS 75 to 150 per document), your own files (passport or national ID, the original purchase contract, and expense receipts), your bank (a mortgage balance and payoff letter), and two government offices that issue clearances (the Israel Tax Authority for land appreciation tax, and your city for arnona and any betterment levy). Without the two clearances the Tabu will not record the buyer. You must report the sale to the Tax Authority within 30 days of signing. The slowest items are the clearances, so start them first.
You are assembling your file before you list, and the real problem is that the documents come from people who work at different speeds. The Tabu extract takes minutes. A tax clearance and a city clearance can take weeks. If you wait until the contract is signed to ask for everything, the clearances become the thing that holds up your money. This page groups every document by who issues it and how long it takes, so you can fire off the slow requests now.
From the Land Registry: your Tabu extract
The Tabu extract (nesach tabu) is the single most important document in your file, because it is the official proof of what you own and what is registered against it. It lists the registered owner, the parcel (gush and helka), the size of the share, and every recorded right or restriction, including any mortgage lien and any warning note. Buyers and their lawyers read it line by line before they sign.
Time to get it: minutes to a day. An extract can be pulled online from the Land Registry, and the registry fee is nominal, roughly NIS 75 to 150 per document. Pull a fresh one (dated within a few weeks of listing) so the buyer is not reading stale information.
One catch: not every Israeli home is registered in the main Land Registry. Some sit with the Israel Land Authority (leasehold) or are held through a title company (chevrat meshakenet) while a building waits to be parcelled. If your property is one of these, you need a certificate of rights from that body instead, and a leasehold may carry a separate lease-transfer consent fee. For the full map of which registry holds your property, see our guide to land registration in Tabu, the Minhal, and Amidar.
From your own files: ID, the old contract, and receipts
These are the documents only you can supply, and they are free, but people lose them. Find them before you list.
- Passport or Israeli national ID (teudat zehut) for every registered owner. The names on the ID must match the names on the Tabu extract exactly.
- The original purchase agreement from when you bought the property. This sets your cost basis for the capital gains tax (mas shevach) and proves what you paid.
- Receipts for deductible costs: purchase tax (mas rechisha) you paid, the agent commission and lawyer fees from when you bought, renovation and improvement invoices, and any betterment levy already paid. These receipts lower your taxable gain, and the cost is indexed to inflation from the day you paid it to the day you sell.
Why the receipts matter in money terms: mas shevach is 25% on the real gain (the gain above inflation), so every shekel of proven cost saves you 25 agorot of tax. Worked estimate, my own: if you can document NIS 200,000 of renovations you forgot about, that is roughly NIS 50,000 less tax (NIS 200,000 times 25%), before indexation even improves it. Basis: the 25% mas shevach rate from the fact bank applied to a documented cost. Lost receipts are lost money.
If you are selling from abroad, add one more item from your own side: a power of attorney, signed before a notary and apostilled, so your lawyer can sign and register on your behalf without you flying in. Foreign sellers also face a tougher exemption test and buyer withholding at closing, so read our dedicated page on selling Israeli property as a non-resident before you start.
From your bank: the mortgage payoff letter
If a mortgage is registered against the property, you need a current balance and payoff letter (michtav kavana or yitrat siluk) from the lender stating the exact amount to clear the loan and lift the lien. The buyer will not pay the full price into your hands while a bank lien sits on the Tabu, so this letter drives the payment schedule.
Time to get it: usually a few days to request, but the lien removal that follows can take 30 days or more, which is often the longest single step in a sale. Ask your bank for the payoff figure as soon as you decide to sell.
Check the early-repayment fee while you are at it. The penalty (amlat preteon) is zero on prime, variable, and adjustable tracks at their reset point, and zero on a fixed loan when today’s market rates are equal to or higher than your original rate. It is large only on a fixed loan when rates have fallen below your old rate. The Bank of Israel rate was cut to 3.75% on 25 May 2026, so if you fixed at a higher rate years ago, ask the bank for the exact penalty figure before you commit to a closing date.
From the Tax Authority: the land appreciation tax clearance
The Tax Authority issues the clearance (ishur misim shevach) that confirms your capital gains tax is paid or that you are exempt. The Tabu will not transfer title to the buyer without it. This is a government clearance, so treat it as a slow item.
The trigger is the sale declaration: both sides must file the real estate transaction declaration with the Tax Authority within 30 days of signing the contract. Your lawyer files it, using your old purchase contract and your receipts to compute the gain. If you qualify for the single-apartment exemption (sole Israeli-resident apartment, owned about 18 months, sale at or below the NIS 5,008,000 ceiling that is frozen for 2025 to 2027), the clearance can come back showing zero tax to pay.
Worked estimate, my own: say you bought for NIS 2,000,000, sell for NIS 3,000,000, and cannot use an exemption. Strip out, very roughly, the inflation component and your indexed costs, and suppose NIS 700,000 is the real taxable gain. Mas shevach at 25% is about NIS 175,000. Basis: the 25% rate on a stated real gain; your actual figure depends on indexation and deductions, which is exactly why the receipts above matter. Do not list until you know roughly what this clearance will cost you.
From the city: the arnona and betterment clearance
Your municipality issues the clearance certificate (ishur iriya) confirming your city property tax (arnona) is paid up and stating whether any betterment levy is owed. Like the tax clearance, this is mandatory: the Tabu will not record the buyer without it.
Most ordinary resale apartments owe no betterment levy, because the levy only applies where an approved planning action raised the property’s value (rezoning, a new plan, or added building rights). When it does apply, it is steep: the betterment levy (heitel hashbacha) is 50% of the planning-driven rise in value, assessed by the local committee’s appraiser, and the seller pays it at the sale even if the extra rights were never built. It is a municipal levy, paid to the local planning and building committee, separate from the national mas shevach. A levy you do pay can later be deducted against your mas shevach gain.
Time to get it: request it early, because if a levy is assessed you may want to dispute the amount, and the standard window to act on an assessment notice is 45 days. Settle the levy to obtain the clearance certificate needed to register the transfer.
How the Tabu transfer actually closes
Once the documents are in hand, the closing follows a fixed order. The lawyers draft and sign the sale contract (heskem mechira). Right after signing, the buyer’s lawyer registers a warning note (he’arat azhara) on your Tabu extract to protect the buyer between signing and final registration. Payments come in stages, often through escrow, with one stage used to pay off your mortgage and lift the lien. Near the end you hand over the two clearances and the city certificate. With the tax clearance, the city clearance, the lien removed, and final payment made, the buyer’s lawyer lifts the warning note and registers the new owner at the Tabu. A typical residential sale runs about 60 to 90 days from a signed contract to closing.
For the full step-by-step of the sale itself, see how to sell an apartment in Israel. This page is only about the paperwork that makes that process possible.
One-page issuer checklist
| Who issues it | Document | Rough time to get |
|---|---|---|
| Land Registry (Tabu) | Tabu extract (nesach tabu) or certificate of rights | Minutes to 1 day |
| You | Passport or national ID for each owner | Find it now |
| You | Original purchase contract | Find it now |
| You | Receipts for purchase tax, fees, renovations, prior betterment levy | Find it now (saves 25% each) |
| You (if abroad) | Notarised, apostilled power of attorney | 1 to 3 weeks |
| Your bank | Mortgage payoff and balance letter, plus lien removal | Days to request, 30+ days to clear lien |
| Israel Tax Authority | Land appreciation tax clearance (ishur misim shevach) | Weeks; file declaration within 30 days of signing |
| Municipality | Arnona and betterment clearance (ishur iriya) | Weeks; act within 45 days of any levy notice |
Confirm before you act
- Confirm which registry holds your property (main Tabu, Israel Land Authority, or a title company), because the document and the fee differ.
- Confirm the names on your ID match the names on the Tabu extract exactly; a name change or an inherited share can stall registration.
- Confirm with your lawyer whether you qualify for the single-apartment exemption before you assume the tax clearance shows zero.
- Confirm the exact mortgage early-repayment penalty in writing before you fix a closing date.
Common questions about the selling file
Do I need a fresh Tabu extract or is an old one fine?
Get a fresh one, dated within a few weeks of listing. The extract shows liens and warning notes, and a stale copy can hide a change. The fee is nominal, roughly NIS 75 to 150.
Can I list before I have the tax and city clearances?
Yes, and most sellers do, because the clearances are filed after signing. But order the slow items early: request the mortgage payoff now, gather your old contract and receipts now, and ask your lawyer to estimate the mas shevach so a surprise tax bill does not blow up your price.
What if I cannot find the original purchase contract?
Your buying lawyer, the Tax Authority record of your purchase, or the seller’s side may hold a copy. It is worth the chase: without it you may lose deductions, and at 25% on the real gain those deductions are real money.
Who pays the Tabu registration fee, the buyer or the seller?
The registry fee is small and per-document, on the order of NIS 75 to 150. There is no percentage transfer tax on the seller; the buyer pays purchase tax (mas rechisha). Your costs are the clearances, your lawyer (about 0.5% to 1.5% plus 18% VAT), and the agent (about 2% plus 18% VAT).
Hard words, in one line each
- Nesach tabu: the official Land Registry extract showing owner, parcel, liens, and notes.
- He’arat azhara: a warning note registered at signing that protects the buyer until final registration.
- Ishur misim shevach: the Tax Authority clearance proving capital gains tax is paid or exempt.
- Ishur iriya: the municipal clearance proving arnona and any betterment levy are settled.
- Heitel hashbacha: the betterment levy, 50% of a planning-driven rise in value, paid by the seller.
Your next step
Pull your Tabu extract today and request your mortgage payoff letter, then hand both to a lawyer who can start the tax and city clearances. If you want a team to assemble the whole file and run the clearances for you, tell us about your property and we will map your document list.
Sources
- Israel Tax Authority on the real estate transaction declaration and timing: https://www.gov.il/en/service/real_estate7157
- Israel Land Authority transfer-of-rights guide: https://www.gov.il/en/service/guide-transfer-rights
- Overview of Israeli real estate terms and clearances: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/real-estate-terms-in-israel/
- Selling-process and seller-document overview: https://aharonilaw.com/blog/buying-selling-registering-real-estate-in-israel/
- Betterment levy explainer: https://trustton.com/en/betterment-levy-what-is-it-how-is-it-calculated-and-what-are-the-implications-for-property-owners/
Your paperwork feeds every later step of the deal. See how the whole sale fits together in selling property in Israel.
