Every seller and every buyer of real estate in Israel must file a declaration (הצהרה, hatzhara) with the Israel Tax Authority’s Land Taxation office (מיסוי מקרקעין, Misui Mekarkein) within 30 days of the transaction, even a seller who owes no land appreciation tax (מס שבח, Mas Shevach) because they claim the single-home exemption. There is no separate exemption application: the exemption is requested inside the declaration itself, or, for each additional seller from a different family unit, on Form 2988 filed with it. Since December 2017 the declaration is filed online, through your lawyer if you have one, on one of three forms: Form 7000 for an exempt qualifying home with no building rights, Form 7000B for business inventory such as a contractor’s flats, and Form 7002 for every other sale. This guide follows the Tax Authority’s service pages and the current forms, checked on 29 October 2026.
Who must declare, and by when
The seller declares under section 73(a) of the Real Estate Taxation (Appreciation and Purchase) Law, 1963, and the buyer under section 73(c). Each has 30 days from the day of the sale. The same duty applies to anyone who carries out an action in a real estate association (איגוד מקרקעין, igud mekarkein), for example selling or buying shares in it.
The clock runs from the legal transaction date. That is usually the day you sign the contract, but a binding preliminary agreement can start it earlier, so ask your lawyer to fix the date; our guide to signing a property contract in Israel explains why. Claiming an exemption does not remove the duty to declare, and neither does a payment deferral.
Missing the deadline costs money. Under section 94A of the law, a person who does not file a declaration on time is fined for every two weeks of delay. For the period from 16 January 2026 to 15 January 2027 the Tax Authority set the fine at ILS 310 for every two weeks, and the amount is updated each January. Being exempt does not protect you: someone who owes no tax but files late without sufficient reason can also face an administrative fine of 0.2% of the value of the right sold, and someone who owes tax faces 5% of the tax due, both plus linkage and interest. Self-assessed tax is a separate deadline: it is ordinarily payable within 60 days of the transaction.
Which form fits your transaction
The form depends on the tax route the seller is asking for. A typical sale of an only home with no building rights, with a full exemption, goes on Form 7000. If the home has unused building rights, Form 7000 itself tells you to file on Form 7002 instead, and the same goes for a partial exemption or a taxable sale.
| Form | Use it for | Attach |
|---|---|---|
| 7000 | Sale of a qualifying home (דירה מזכה, dira mezaka) with no existing or expected building rights, where a full Mas Shevach exemption is claimed. The same form carries the buyer’s declaration. | Sale contract, the seller’s purchase contract, Tabu extract |
| 7000B | Sale of a property right whose profit is taxed under income tax, with an exemption under section 50 of the law. Used by sellers of business inventory, such as contractors. | Contract, payments annex, the assessing officer’s section 50 approval |
| 7002 | Every other sale of a property right or action in a real estate association, including a home with unused building rights, a partial exemption or a taxable sale | Sale and purchase contracts, Tabu extract, Mas Shevach self-assessment, evidence of deductions, any accompanying forms |
Source: Israel Tax Authority, declaration on the sale and purchase of real estate (Form 7000) service page, checked 29 Oct 2026.
Form 7000 also asks whether the home was business inventory, was received tax-free when a real estate association was wound up (section 71), was received in a TAMA 38 or pinui binui deal in exchange for a right that was not a home, or came to you in an exempt transfer from a company under the Economic Efficiency Laws of 2016 or 2024. Answer these carefully: a yes tells the Tax Authority the sale needs a closer look. Whether you qualify for the exemption at all is covered in our guide to Mas Shevach exemptions when selling.
How to file
Online filing has been mandatory since 1 December 2017, under online reporting regulations published on 15 October 2017. There are two routes.
- With a lawyer. If the seller or buyer is represented, the lawyer files online through the representatives’ system, Shevach.net (שבח.נט). The parties sign an abbreviated signature form (טופס חתימות מקוצר) that the lawyer certifies and attaches. The Tax Authority warns that if this form is not signed as required, the filing does not count as a declaration under the law.
- Without a lawyer. The current Form 7000 service page and the Tax Authority’s online-filing FAQ say you file online yourself after identifying to the Tax Authority’s digital services. Several other Tax Authority pages (Forms 7000B, 2988, 7097 and 7036) still send unrepresented sellers to the public computer station in one of the ten regional Land Taxation offices, so if online identification does not work for you, call before you travel.
Foreign residents and foreign companies must file online too. The system identifies each seller and buyer only by an Israeli ID number, a company number or a special identifier the Tax Authority issues to foreign residents and foreign companies; if you have never been given one, you apply for it online. Attach a copy of the passport of every foreign-resident seller or buyer. A foreign company attaches its certificate of incorporation, and a foreign company that is buying also attaches confirmation of who its shareholders are. The forms and the online system are in Hebrew, so if you don’t read Hebrew, filing through a lawyer is the practical route.
Paper filing is allowed in only three cases, and a paper form from anyone else is returned to the sender:
- a representing lawyer who was 66 or older on 15 October 2017;
- a seller or buyer without a lawyer who cannot reach the office computer station because of a medical problem or a long stay abroad, and whose request on Form 7100 was approved. Send Form 7100 with supporting documents and the completed paper declaration by post to the Director of Mas Shevach, Real Estate Assessment Department, PO Box 1170, Jerusalem 91010; each request is examined on its circumstances;
- an objection to an assessment the Tax Authority made because no declaration was filed (section 82).
As soon as an online declaration is sent, the system shows the assessment (file) number it opened, one per seller or buyer. Documents you add later go through Shevach.net if a lawyer filed, or through the inquiry system on the Tax Authority website if you filed yourself.
What the declaration states
The property and the deal
Both sides describe the right sold (ownership, lease or sublease) and where it is registered: the Land Registry, with a Tabu extract (נסח טאבו, nesach tabu); the Israel Land Authority or a housing company, with a rights confirmation; or not registered at all. For a home, the form asks for the area on the arnona bill, so attach the latest bill, along with the rooms, the share sold and any protected tenancy. Parts C and D, the right and the transaction, must be completed in full: section 73(d) makes that a condition for the declaration to be accepted. Under sections 96 and 112 the Tax Authority may demand every supporting document, including the sale agreement, any memorandum of understanding (זכרון דברים, zichron dvarim), the Tabu extract and a rights confirmation.
The declared sale value includes any of the seller’s obligations that the buyer takes on, such as the betterment levy (היטל השבחה, hetel hashbacha) or consent fees, and on Form 7002 the VAT where it is charged. Both sides initial a statement that no other written or oral agreement and no extra payment exists beyond the attached contract, or they attach the zichron dvarim or the construction-order agreement. Form 7002 also records whether the Mas Shevach will be paid by the seller or by the buyer.
The form records the date the buyer gets possession, the dates by which the buyer pays more than 40% and more than 50% of the price, and the date of any irrevocable power of attorney to register the buyer. The Tax Authority treats these dates as the notice required under section 51; if any of them changes, you must notify it within 14 days under section 76.
The seller’s part
The seller’s declaration gives the sale price and date, the original purchase price and date, deductible expenses, the Mas Shevach and how it was calculated (on a separate self-assessment form when tax is due), and any exemption or relief claimed. On Form 7000 the exemption claim asks for:
- the seller’s family unit: spouse or common-law partner and unmarried children under 18;
- when the home was bought, finished and handed over, and whether it was used mainly as a home (more than half its area used for living counts);
- whether it was received as a gift, and, if it was bought less than 4 years before the sale, how the purchase was financed (mortgage, savings, gifts, other), with evidence;
- an Israeli residency statement, including that you will spend more than 183 days in Israel in the year of the sale and that your centre of life is in Israel;
- for a foreign resident claiming the exemption, a certificate from the country of residence that neither you nor your family unit owns a home there (see selling as a foreign resident);
- for an inherited home, the will and the probate order or inheritance order.
When the sellers are not one family unit, each additional seller files a separate exemption request on Form 2988 with the main declaration, within the same 30 days, attaching the sale contract, the purchase contract and a Tabu extract. The exemption declaration is personal: only the sellers sign it, and a receiver, estate administrator or other representative needs a court decision expressly authorising them to sign. A lawyer verifies the signatures. Take care before you file: once the Director has made an assessment, the form warns that you can withdraw the exemption request only through the procedures the law sets.
The buyer’s part
The buyer’s declaration gives the price paid, the purchase tax (מס רכישה, mas rechisha) and how it was calculated, and any exemption or relief claimed under the purchase tax regulations. A buyer, a spouse or common-law partner and children under 18 count as one buyer; buyers from different family units each file their own buyer declaration on Form 7000/A. The buyer states whether this is their only home, whether they own another home they undertake to sell, and whether it is a replacement home, which decides the tax brackets; the purchase tax guide explains them. A new immigrant or a disabled buyer claiming relief under regulation 12 or 11 attaches Form 2973.
The buyer also reports how the price is paid (bank transfer or mortgage, cheque, cash or other, VAT included), under section 30 of the Law for the Reduction of the Use of Cash, 2018. If the details are not known when you file, the form lets you complete them online within 6 months of the possession date. Anyone who bought in trust for someone else files a trust notice. The form also reminds the buyer of section 15(b), under which the buyer pays an advance on account of the seller’s Mas Shevach; how that works is explained in closing costs for sellers.
Annex forms for special cases
| Form | When it is used |
|---|---|
| 2990 (2290/2990A) | Mas Shevach self-assessment; mandatory with Form 7002 |
| 2988 | Exemption request by an additional seller of a qualifying home; on Form 7002, the exempt sale of a qualifying home that has building rights |
| 7914 | Taxable sale of a qualifying home in the transition period (section 48A(b2)) |
| 7003 | Request to spread the real gain over several tax years |
| 7155 | Request to reduce the advance on the Mas Shevach |
| 1271/A | Offsetting losses, approved by the assessing officer |
| 7086 | Action in a real estate association |
| 7004 | Exemption under section 71 when a real estate association is wound up |
| 7097 | Sale of an agricultural farm (meshek): lists the houses, farm buildings and farmland; signed by the seller and approved by the moshav secretary or committee chair |
| 7036 | Seller deducts permit fees (דמי היתר, dmei heter) or betterment levy already paid; attach payment confirmations; the seller undertakes to report any later change in the amount. If the Director’s assessment is already made, attach it to a correction request |
| 7025 | Sale of an option in real estate (section 49J), with the sale contract; the intake check takes 5 business days |
| 7067 | Trust notice by a buyer who bought for someone else, with the trust agreement if there is one and payment confirmations, within 30 days of the purchase; online with the declaration, or on paper by hand or by post to a regional office |
| 7912 | Buyers’ supplementary sole-home declaration (see below) |
| 7100 | Request to file on paper |
| 2973 | Purchase tax relief for a new immigrant (regulation 12) or a disabled buyer (regulation 11) |
Source: Israel Tax Authority, Form 7002 (updated 5.2025), Form 7000 (updated 5.2025, for transactions from 7 July 2021) and the service pages for Forms 7097, 7036, 7025 and 7067, checked 29 Oct 2026.
Form 7912 is described in two ways. Its service page says it is for buyers who claim the sole-home rates when someone they authorised files the main declaration on paper; the buyers sign it and it goes with Form 7000. Form 7002 says anyone who self-assesses purchase tax at the sole-home rates attaches it. Ask your lawyer whether your filing needs it.
What happens after you file
- Intake. The regional Land Taxation office that receives the declaration checks that it is complete.
- Assessment notice and voucher. Once the declaration is taken in, you receive an assessment notice and a payment voucher for the tax in your self-assessment.
- Payment. You can pay as soon as you have the assessment number, through the Tax Authority’s payment server by credit card (up to a limit) or by bank transfer; a lawyer can also produce a voucher payable at the Postal Bank. Self-assessed tax is ordinarily due within 60 days of the transaction.
- Inspector review. In parallel the file goes to an inspector (מפקח, mefakeach), who examines the declaration and makes the assessment.
- Objection if you disagree. File an objection (השגה, hasaga) on Form 7013 within 30 days of receiving the assessment, unless the regional office manager agreed in advance to more time. Give the tax you estimate is due and pay it, set out your reasons with evidence, and attach a power of attorney if a lawyer files.
The declaration services and the accompanying forms are free. For questions, the Tax Authority’s information centre for real estate taxation is on *4954 or 02-5656400, and there is an online inquiry form on gov.il. Check the current opening hours on gov.il before you call or visit one of the ten regional offices.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm with a licensed professional.
Sources
- Israel Tax Authority, declaration on the sale and purchase of real estate (Form 7000), with the attached Form 7000 and Form 7002, both updated 5.2025. Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority, Form 7000B service page. Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority, frequently asked questions on online real estate declarations, and the Tax Authority glossary (online reporting, objection). Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority, request to file on paper (Form 7100). Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority, exemption request for an additional seller (Form 2988). Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority service pages for Forms 7097, 7036, 7025, 7067 and 7912. Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority, filing an objection (Form 7013). Checked 29 October 2026.
- Israel Tax Authority, real estate taxation instruction 1/2026 (updated amounts, including the section 94A fine), 18 January 2026, and the Tax Authority guide 2026, payment chapter (administrative fines). Checked 29 October 2026.
- Real Estate Taxation (Appreciation and Purchase) Law, 5723-1963, sections 15, 51, 73, 76, 82, 87, 94A, 96 and 112; Real Estate Taxation (Purchase Tax) Regulations, 5735-1974.
Selling a home in Israel or buying one? Tell Semerenko Group about the property, your timing and whether you already have a lawyer, and we’ll help you plan the sale or the search so the contract date, the declaration and the payment dates are clear from the start.
