The financial checklist before you move
Guide · Money
The financial checklist before you move
Most of the expensive mistakes in an international move are made in the six months before departure, in the accounts and policies you leave behind. This is the list, in the order the timing actually demands.
Six months out
- Get tax advice in both countries, together. The single highest-return professional fee in the whole move. Departure timing, the date you become Israeli resident, and the treatment of pensions, share options and property abroad all turn on dates you still control.
- Establish your source-of-funds file. Property sale documents, employment records, gift letters, probate papers. Israeli banks will ask. Assemble it while the documents are easy to obtain.
- Check what your existing accounts do when you leave. Some providers close accounts for non-residents; investment platforms in particular often will not serve an Israeli-resident client, and being forced to liquidate at short notice is how people crystallise gains at the wrong time.
- Deal with property you are keeping. Consent to let, insurance that permits letting, and the tax treatment of the rent in both countries.
Three months out
- Request pension statements and transfer values, and take advice before moving anything. Moving a pension across borders is rarely urgent and frequently irreversible.
- Get a written mortgage indication if you plan to buy, remembering the 50 per cent loan-to-value cap that applies to non-residents.
- Notify banks and card issuers of the move, so cards are not blocked in the first week.
- Set up a currency broker account and complete its identity checks — doing it while you have easy access to your documents is much easier than doing it from a rental in Israel.
- Take copies of everything: five years of tax returns, statements, insurance, employment records. Scanned and stored, not packed.
The last month
- Keep one foreign bank account open with a reliable address for correspondence. Closing everything is a mistake almost everyone regrets within a year.
- Cancel standing orders and subscriptions attached to accounts you are closing.
- Move the first three months of living costs to Israel or make it accessible — you will be paying deposits and buying appliances before your Israeli account is fully working.
- Confirm the arrangements for anything above the ₪50,000 declaration threshold you intend to carry.
- Note the exact date you leave. It matters for residence in both systems.
The first month in Israel
Open the bank account, apply your credit points through Form 101 at your employer, register with a kupat cholim, claim the arnona discount for the twelve months you choose within your first twenty-four, and put every recurring bill on a standing order. Then leave the big financial decisions alone for a while — buying property in the first ninety days, before you know the areas, is the expensive version of enthusiasm.
One diary entry that pays for itself. If you became Israeli resident from 1 January 2026, you must report foreign-source income even where the ten-year exemption means it is not taxed. Put the first Israeli filing deadline in the calendar now and instruct an accountant before it, not after.
Six months out — the money checklist
What to do before you go, in the order it has to be done.
Nothing on this page is legal, tax or financial advice.
Questions we get asked
Should I sell my property abroad before moving?
It depends on the tax treatment in both countries and on whether you need the capital for an Israeli purchase. Get the advice before you list it — the sequence and the dates change the answer.
Can I keep my foreign investment accounts?
Sometimes. Many platforms restrict or close accounts for Israeli-resident clients, so ask each provider in writing before you move rather than discovering it afterwards.
When do I become Israeli tax resident?
It turns on a day-count test and a centre-of-life test, not simply on the date of aliyah. This is precisely the point on which to take advice, because it sets the clock on the ten-year exemption.
How much money should I have available on arrival?
Enough for a rental deposit and first rent, furniture and appliances, a car if you need one, and three months of living costs — before your Israeli income starts.
Do I need an accountant in both countries?
For the year of the move, usually yes, and ideally two who will speak to each other. After that, one in Israel and a review at home if you retain assets there.
Do the property research before you land
Areas, prices and commutes are the one part of the move you can research properly from abroad. Start with the drives.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Israeli tax rules changed materially for people becoming resident from 1 January 2026, and figures are revised annually. Take advice from an Israeli accountant on your own position before you act, and confirm current thresholds with the Israel Tax Authority.
This index publishes data and takes no money from anyone it writes about. No advertising, no paid placement, no sponsored entries, and no referral or introduction fee from any agent, developer, bank, lawyer, surveyor or mortgage broker named anywhere on this site. It is not a licensed brokerage, it holds no listings, and no property is sold through it.