A CPA for startups and Israeli companies

It must have a CPA. A company is required to prepare financial statements and file them audited, and auditing a company is an act only a certified public accountant is authorized to perform - a tax advisor is not, however well they handle self-employed clients. This is the one structural difference that has no workaround.

That is the half-truth most people incorporate over. It is correct that the company pays corporate tax of 23% on its profit - but that money sits in the company, not with you. The moment you draw it as a dividend, further tax is paid, and for a substantial shareholder the dividend rate is 30%. The real benefit of two-tier taxation belongs to whoever leaves profit inside the company to grow; whoever draws everything home each month usually gains little, and sometimes pays more.

Section 62A of the Income Tax Ordinance addresses a situation where a company is effectively a conduit for the shareholder's own income - when the income comes from a single source and the shareholder is the one actually providing the service. In that case the income can be attributed to the individual personally, and the advantage of two-tier taxation evaporates. This is not an edge case: it is precisely the structure of a consultant, developer or manager who opened a company facing a single client. Check it before incorporating, not in the first annual report.

Options and shares for employees are taxed under Section 102 of the Ordinance, and the track most companies want is the capital track with a trustee, where the employee is taxed at a reduced rate of 25%, subject to conditions. Two things must exist before the grant: an equity compensation plan submitted for the Tax Authority's approval, and the appointment of a trustee who holds the options for a lockup period of at least 24 months from the grant date. The choice of track is irreversible. The practical implication: promises made verbally to employees before the plan exists are a problem to fix later.

Not as ordinary income, and that is a common mistake. A SAFE is in substance an advance on account of future shares rather than payment for a service, and an Innovation Authority grant arrives with its own royalty mechanism and obligations. Each has its own accounting and tax treatment, and getting it right keeps the balance sheet clean for the next round's due diligence.

Sometimes yes, usually not - and the difference is worth money. An Israeli resident and an Israeli company are taxed in Israel, and an American entity saves no tax merely by existing: it adds a reporting layer, ongoing costs and occasionally double handling. A flip to Delaware without a ruling is itself a tax event. There are real cases where it is required - chiefly American institutional investors who invest only in a Delaware C-Corp - and then it is done properly, with counsel on both sides.

Yes, at any stage, including a company that already has audited statements from previous years. Switching representatives is done by power of attorney, and we handle receiving the materials from the previous accountant, taking in the opening balances, and continuing the work without a gap.

Yes. The service is digital by nature - documents, signatures, filings and meetings run online, so there is no operational difference between a company in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Beer Sheva. Whoever wants to meet face to face is welcome at the office in Ness Ziona.