Wealth management in Israel

“Alexis, we are preparing our aliyah. We were told that Israel has no inheritance tax and that new immigrants are exempt for ten years. So why is someone talking to me about a tax risk on my estate?”

Israel has 75,000 French nationals on the consular register as at 31 December 2025, an increase of +6.33% in a year — one of the strongest growth rates in our panel. It is the eighth-largest destination worldwide for French nationals abroad.

It is also a destination where there is a wide gap between what people think they know and what actually applies. Israel has indeed abolished inheritance tax, and there is indeed a favourable regime for new immigrants. But neither of these two realities protects your family on the French side — and the second can even make the first worse.

At Balmont Conseil, we approach the subject the opposite way round: we do not start from what Israel does not levy, but from what France continues to levy.

1. Why seek expert wealth management in Israel?

Three facts determine the entire case, and all three are French.

• There is no estate tax treaty between France and Israel. This is the central point. Nothing allocates the right to tax on death, and nothing provides for a treaty tax credit.
• The absence of Israeli inheritance tax does not compensate for this. Article 784 A of the French Tax Code allows tax paid outside France to be credited against French duties. If Israel levies nothing, there is nothing to credit: the French exposure remains in full.
• The exit tax is not automatically suspended. Israel has no clause with France on assistance in collecting income tax. Deferral therefore requires an application, a tax representative and guarantees.
• Social charges remain at the full rate. The Franco-Israeli social security agreement, though long-standing, does not give entitlement to exemption from CSG and CRDS.

2. The France ↔ Israel framework in five verified points

Here is the applicable framework, checked against official sources as at 15 September 2026. Taken together, the last three lines are the strongest argument for preparing your departure seriously.

The combination you need to know. Article 750 ter of the French Tax Code makes all assets received taxable in France, wherever they are located, if the heir or donee is domiciled in France on the day of the transfer and has been for at least six of the previous ten years. With no treaty, nothing prevents this. With no Israeli duties, nothing can be credited. A child who stayed in France can therefore bear French duties on wealth that is entirely Israeli.

The new immigrant regime does not protect against this. It concerns Israeli tax, and it is real. But the question that will determine the fate of your family is not what Israel does not collect: it is where your heirs are domiciled, and for how long.

That is why the first thing we ask you is not the composition of your assets, but the tax address of each of your children.

3. Our services: 360° support for expatriates and investors

Three workstreams, the first of which determines the other two.

Mapping inheritance risk heir by heir

For each person set to receive, we establish their position under Article 750 ter: current domicile, how long they have been domiciled there, and therefore the applicable regime. We then calculate the resulting French tax burden on your actual wealth.

This calculation is often the trigger for the case. It transforms a diffuse concern into a sum, and a sum is dealt with — through the timing of gifts, through the choice of investment vehicles, through the structuring of ownership.

• Position of each heir under 3° of Article 750 ter.
• Calculation of the French tax burden on your actual wealth, scenario by scenario.
• Gift and asset allocation schedule.

Preparing for departure and exit tax

We determine whether you cross the thresholds of Article 167 bis of the French Tax Code and what the absence of automatic deferral means in practice: amount and form of the guarantee, appointment of a tax representative, time until relief.

On a substantial securities portfolio, this constraint can tie up a large amount of capital. It can be prepared for, and sometimes reduced through a reallocation made before departure.

Portability of investment wrappers and wealth remaining in France

We examine what can be kept, what should be reallocated and what should be replaced. The Luxembourg assurance-vie contract deserves close attention here: it was designed to follow a policyholder who changes country, and its prudential framework does not depend on residence.

We do not prejudge the classification that the Israeli tax authorities will apply to your contract, nor the local reporting obligations: these questions fall under the purview of a qualified professional in Israel, and we help you to ask them effectively.

For your assets remaining in France, we handle the tax filings: taxation at the non-resident minimum rate under Article 197 A of the French Tax Code, election for the average rate where more favourable, and IFI (real estate wealth tax).

4. Methodology: our way of working

We work in four stages, and at each stage you know where you stand.

1. The initial review. We establish your actual situation: the make-up of your wealth, the project timeline, the situation of each member of the household, and the tax domicile of your heirs — because it is theirs that counts, not yours.
2. The applicable framework. We set out, source by source and with its date, the framework that applies to you. What we do not know, we mark “to be confirmed” — never anything else.
3. The choices. We present the options with figures and their respective consequences, and you decide. Wealth structuring comes after the decision, not before.
4. Ongoing monitoring. An annual review, free of charge, to check that the framework has not moved — treaties are amended, incentive regimes are abolished, thresholds change.

5. What the firm offers you

What concretely sets our work apart.

• Sources, not claims. Every item in your file carries its reference and its date. You can check. It is the only way to work on a subject where most of the information available online is out of date.
• A single point of contact in France. We coordinate your local advisers; we do not replace them: the host country's domestic tax rules are handled with a qualified professional on the ground. Our role is to keep the whole picture consistent and to defend the French side of the file.
• Fees that are easy to understand. Fees disclosed before any commitment: fixed-price reviews, tailor-made engagements at €500 incl. VAT per hour, insurers' commissions on contracts taken out. The annual review is free of charge.

Frequently asked questions: Israel

Since Israel has no inheritance tax, are my heirs protected?

No, and precisely the opposite happens. The absence of Israeli duties means there is nothing to credit against French duties under Article 784 A of the French Tax Code.

If one of your heirs is domiciled in France on the day of the transfer and has been for at least six of the last ten years, France taxes all the assets they receive, wherever they are located — including your flat in Jerusalem or Netanya. With no estate tax treaty, nothing corrects this outcome.

Does the new immigrant regime protect me from French taxes?

No. This regime concerns Israeli tax. It has no effect on the application of Article 750 ter of the French Tax Code, a French territoriality rule for gift and inheritance duties.

It remains an asset, of course, and how it interacts with your French-source income is worth working on. But it does not settle the question of passing your wealth on to France.

Will I have to provide guarantees for the exit tax?

If you cross the thresholds of Article 167 bis of the French Tax Code, yes. Automatic deferral of payment requires the host State to have concluded with France both an exchange-of-information clause and an assistance-in-collection clause. Israel has the first, but not the second, for income tax.

Deferral remains possible on request, with a tax representative and guarantees. This is a cash-flow point best costed several months before departure.

Will I continue to pay CSG on my French income?

Yes, at the full rate of 17.2% on your French-source property income and real estate capital gains. The CSG and CRDS exemption covers people affiliated to a compulsory scheme of a European Economic Area State, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.

The Franco-Israeli social security agreement, which came into force in 1966, coordinates certain social rights. It does not grant entitlement to this exemption.

When should you consult us?

Before leaving, and ideally six months before. Most useful levers — gifts, asset allocation adjustments, timing of leaving the home — lose their effectiveness once the move is complete.

If your departure is imminent or has already happened, the work remains useful: it then covers passing on your wealth and managing the assets remaining in France, both of which can be addressed at any time.

In summary

Of all the destinations in our panel, Israel is where the gap between perception and law is widest. The absence of local inheritance tax, often presented as protection, is in fact what deprives your heirs of any credit mechanism against French duties.

The decisive variable is not your residence: it is your children's. That is where we start.

Firm's fees: €500 incl. VAT per hour. Annual follow-up is free of charge.

Let's review your situation

A thirty-minute conversation is enough to gauge the exposure of each of your heirs. You can also start with a free contract X-ray.

Other destinations

United States · Canada · Germany · Morocco · Algeria · Netherlands · Australia · Lebanon · Côte d'Ivoire · Ireland · Greece · Monaco · Andorra · Cyprus · Jordan · Brazil · Mexico · Senegal · Tunisia — or return to all of our expatriation destinations.