Do I have to file at home while living in Israel?
For most people the answer turns on whether the ties that made them resident have actually ended. For a US citizen or green-card holder it does not: the return is due in Israel exactly as it would be at home. Everything else on the file follows from which of those you are.
Is there a treaty between my country and Israel?
That is verified rather than assumed: we confirm which treaty text governs Israel and your home country for the year in question, because a protocol can move a rate or an article between years. If there is no treaty, unilateral credit rules are what prevent double taxation.
I own property in Israel. Where is the rent taxed?
In Israel, because that is where the property sits. The complication is the base: gross-rent withholding takes no account of mortgage interest, tax or repairs, so a leveraged property can face tax on turnover. An election onto net profit, where it exists, is what fixes that — and it has its own timing.
Does the new resident exemption in Israel cover my Canadian income?
It covers what Israel charges, and only that. Israel has operated benefits for new and returning residents on foreign income and assets for a period after arrival, which affects what Israel taxes and what has to be reported there. It does nothing to Canada's claim. If you remain resident in Canada under Canadian rules, Canadian tax on worldwide income carries on; if residence has genuinely ended, the Canadian obligation narrows to Canadian-source items and to the year of departure itself. Two systems, two questions. Your arrival date and the classification of your arrival status govern the Israeli side; your ties to Canada govern the Canadian one.
I made aliyah last year, do I still file in Canada?
For the year you left, almost certainly, because part of that year was spent as a resident and the departure itself carries consequences that are reported on that return. For later years it depends on whether residence actually ended. A Canadian home kept available, a spouse who stayed behind for a while, provincial health coverage left running — each is a fact pulling the other way, and together they fix the date. Establish that departure date once, in writing, with the evidence behind it. Every later filing in both countries is built on it, and changing it afterwards means revisiting everything already filed on the old one.
Am I a new resident or a returning resident in Israel?
They are different classifications with different consequences, and the difference turns on your history rather than your intentions. Someone arriving for the first time is not in the same position as someone returning after a long absence, and the length and continuity of that absence is the fact that has to be established. Work it out from records you can actually produce: entry and exit history, where you were registered, where you filed, where you were employed. The arrival date and the classification together govern what has to be reported where, so both are worth settling at the outset rather than in correspondence afterwards.
Does the Israeli exemption mean I stop filing US returns?
No. American filing follows citizenship, so a US citizen who moves to Israel keeps filing whatever Israel does with the same income. An Israeli benefit that takes income out of the Israeli charge does not take it out of the US return, and it can make the American position harder rather than easier, because relief there is generally built on foreign tax actually paid and untaxed income produces no credit. The Israeli accounts opened after arrival carry their own reporting on a separate track as well. This combination catches people who were told, quite correctly, that they would pay little Israeli tax for a while.
What do I report if I live in Canada and own Israeli property?
Start with what the property is used for, because that is what decides the Canadian reporting rather than where it sits. Property held to earn income is treated differently from property kept for the family's own use, and the income itself, if there is any, goes on the Canadian return in Canadian dollars with credit considered for Israeli tax borne on it. Bank and investment accounts held in Israel raise their own separate question, attaching to the account rather than to what it earns. Gather the documents for both — the deed, the tenancy if there is one, the account statements — and settle the position for all of them at once.
What happens when my Israeli benefit period ends?
The date it ends is known from the day it begins, which makes it one of the few tax deadlines you can prepare for years ahead. What changes is the scope of what Israel taxes and reports on, so income and assets that sat outside the Israeli picture come into it. The work belongs before that date rather than after: identify what will come into charge, establish the cost base and holding history of each asset while the records can still be obtained, and check how the Israeli treatment will then meet whatever you still file at home. Clients who leave it to the first chargeable year spend that year reconstructing instead of filing.
Does California allow the foreign earned income exclusion?
No. California does not conform to it, so foreign salary a resident excludes on the federal return is still in the California base — and California does not give a credit for foreign tax in the way it does for tax paid to other states. The result is the same income taxed federally at zero and by California in full. Whether it applies at all comes back to whether you are still a California resident, which is the question worth answering first. See state residency and domicile.
What does "RIC" mean on my foreign tax paid statement?
Registered Investment Company — a US mutual fund or ETF. When a fund holds securities from many countries it may report the foreign tax it paid on your behalf without breaking it down by country, using RIC as the country label. You are allowed to use it that way on Form 1116 for that income, which saves you reconstructing a country-by-country split you have no way of knowing. See Form 1116.
