You build. We close the Tax Authority side.
You built a SaaS, an app, an extension or a digital product - with Cursor, with Claude, with Base44, or by hand - and dollars started arriving. Whether you are a solo founder running a one-person business, a salaried employee with a side project, or a small team, the answers are here: when to register a business, why a VAT-registered dealer with zero-rate VAT wins when you sell abroad, how Paddle and the app stores look in the books, the truth about Stripe in Israel, who handles pension when there is no employer, and what to do when an acquisition offer lands. Written by a licensed CPA who speaks the language - no jargon, no scare tactics.
Where are you in the journey?
Every guide here came from a real question a builder or solo founder asked. Find the stage you are at, and everything links on from there. Already incorporated, or raising? Move on to the startups hub. Looking for the service itself for a company? CPA for startups and companies.
Stage one: money started coming in
The first payout is the moment the questions start. What is actually mandatory, what can wait, and which track you should be on.
Earned your first money online? What now
There is no exemption threshold below which business income goes unreported. What the law requires, when income becomes a business, and the route for this week.
Read → The statusesOsek patur, osek murshe or esek zair?
The Israeli statuses in plain terms: which one fits, the 2026 turnover ceiling, the automatic 30% expense track, and how registration actually works.
Read → Employee plusEmployed with a side project that earns?
The profit sits on top of your salary and is taxed at your marginal rate. National Insurance on both sources, what the employer learns, and why 65% still stays with you.
Read → Building aloneSolo founder in Israel - the financial guide
Why a one person product business is not the classic freelancer: which status fits, mandatory pension with no employer, and what is better handed out.
Read → Selling abroadAlready selling to customers overseas?
If your customers are outside Israel, the calculation flips from the start - and it changes which status you should choose.
Read →עוד בשלב הזה: בניתם אפליקציה עם AI · מחשבון: מס על פרויקט צד
Selling to clients abroad
This is where the Israeli tax system is unexpectedly friendly to you - and where the most expensive misunderstandings live.
Zero-rate VAT: the exporter's quiet advantage
0% VAT on income from abroad, while still reclaiming Israeli input VAT on your expenses. The conditions, the Regulation 12a caveats, and the honest limits.
Read → PracticeInvoicing a client abroad - step by step
English, dollars, the right exchange rate and the 0% VAT line - plus who your client actually is when the money passes through a platform.
Read →עוד בשלב הזה: פטור, מורשה או זעיר לבילדרים · מחשבון: כמה מע"מ ההוצאות מחזירות
Payments and platforms
Who your customer actually is - the end user or a foreign corporation - decides how VAT, invoices and your books look.
Stripe in Israel: the truth and the alternatives
You cannot open Stripe on an Israeli business. What does work: Paddle and Merchant of Record, local processing - and when a US entity is genuinely worth it.
Read → Paddle · LSMerchant of Record - the Israeli side
When your client is a single foreign corporation: what it does to VAT, to invoices and to your peace of mind.
Read → App storesApp Store and Google Play income
You sell through the store, not to the user. What the monthly reports determine, the commission tracks, and the W-8BEN that prevents US withholding.
Read → Ads · affiliateAdSense, affiliate and sponsorship income
"Passive" belongs to marketing, not to the Ordinance. Who actually pays you, what that does to VAT, and the W-8BEN that prevents US withholding.
Read → USUS sales tax on Israeli SaaS
Economic nexus reaches remote sellers too - and why selling through a MoR takes the whole subject off your table.
Read →עוד בשלב הזה: כל אפשרויות הסליקה · תוכנת חשבוניות
Day-to-day operations
The routine that should take fifteen minutes a month, not a weekend: recognized expenses, foreign currency, advances and National Insurance.
What stays on your plate every year
The annual VAT declaration, the annual return, National Insurance advances and mandatory self-employed pension - what falls due when.
Read → Must knowRecognized expenses - the full stack table
Claude, Cursor, servers, a computer and working from home: what is recognized, how much, and the difference between income tax and VAT.
Read → Foreign currencyDollars, Wise and Payoneer in the books
Income is recorded in shekels at the representative rate on the transaction date. The full route of a dollar, and the quarter-hour monthly routine.
Read → Form 1219The capital declaration, without the panic
A routine demand with 120 days to answer it. Assets at cost rather than market value, and why the capital comparison years later is the part that matters.
Read → ResidencyWorking from abroad, and when Israel stops being the tax home
Two months from Lisbon change nothing. Centre of life, the day presumptions, Form 1348 and the Section 100A exit tax on your shares.
Read →עוד בשלב הזה: מקדמות כשההכנסה תנודתית · ביטוח לאומי לשכיר-וגם-עצמאי · פרילנסרים בארץ ובחו"ל
Growth, structure and an exit
When the product works, the questions change: incorporate or not, a US entity or not, and what is left after a small exit.
"Just open a Delaware LLC" - why usually not
The viral advice that costs Israelis dearly: tax follows residency, the classification mismatch, Form 5472 - and the cases where a US structure is right.
Read → Next stageIncorporated a company? The startups hub
SAFEs, Section 102 options, Innovation Authority grants, a Delaware flip and the exit - the whole company layer in one place.
Go → The calculationWhen to move to a limited company
23% is only half the story. The full calculation including the dividend, the operating costs nobody mentions, and the four triggers that justify it.
Read → Small exitSelling your product? The small exit taxed
Capital gain at 25% or business income above 50%? It is decided in the classification and in how the consideration is allocated.
Read → Two foundersBuilding with a partner - which structure?
Two dealers, a partnership or a company, and the five clauses that must be in writing before the product is worth something.
Read → USC-Corp or LLC - and how to set it up right
Atlas, Mercury, franchise tax and the Israeli side, for anyone who already decided a US entity is needed.
Read →עוד בשלב הזה: בוטסטראפ או גיוס
Why builders and solo founders work with us
We accompany solo founders, entrepreneurs and owners of digital products alongside traditional businesses - and we know exactly where the worlds meet: Stripe and Paddle, zero-rate VAT, dollars in the books, and your time being worth more when it goes into the product. For anyone doing it all alone, we are the finance department you do not have to hire.
A licensed Israeli CPA (license no. 500125101) accompanying businesses and self-employed clients across Israel - including founders, builders and owners of digital products. Bookkeeping, filings to the authorities, annual reports and personal financial guidance. About Adir →
The information on this page is general only, current as of August 2026, and does not constitute tax advice or a substitute for professional advice fitted to your circumstances. The guides are condensed adaptations of our fuller Hebrew library, which cites the official sources for every figure. For personal advice - talk to us.
Builder and solo-founder questions - before you start
I'm right at the start and barely have revenue. Is it even worth talking to an accountant?
Now is exactly when it pays off most: one conversation at this stage sets the right track (patur / murshe / esek zair), puts expense documentation in order from day one, and prevents the mistakes that cost money to fix later. Our first intro conversation is free and without commitment - and if the conclusion is "too early, come back when there is revenue", that is exactly what we will tell you.
What does working with you actually look like for a builder?
Digital and asynchronous: a dedicated WhatsApp thread, access to the Paddle/PayPal/bank reports, and we run the routine - registration, VAT, tax advances, National Insurance, the annual return - without you chasing anything. Business questions (pricing, structure, an exit) get answered when they come up. You build; this side is simply handled.
I'm a solo founder doing everything myself. What actually comes off my plate?
Everything facing the authorities: opening the files and setting the track, bookkeeping and VAT filings, calibrating tax advances, National Insurance, the annual return - plus reminders for the things nobody does for you when there is no employer, such as mandatory pension for the self-employed. You keep the product, the marketing and the decisions; the finance department of a one-person business moves to us.
I live far away, or spend part of the year abroad. Is that a problem?
No. The service is built remote-first - the office is in Ness Ziona and clients are all over the country, including some who travel. Everything needed passes digitally. Anyone planning a genuine relocation should talk to us early, because tax residency has rules of its own.
Ready to close the financial side and get back to building?
Tell us on WhatsApp what you are building and where you stand. A first reply usually comes within hours, not days.