However, Israel's Tax Authority (ITA) does NEED an Israeli person to take formal responsibility.
There are 2 ways to accomplish this:
(1) ADD AN ISRAELI DIRECTOR
A “Director” of an Israeli entity is like a board member. This person doesn't need to be a shareholder. If you're able to get a friend to do it for free, great. Otherwise expect to pay for this service. This person is very much exposing themselves to all sorts of risk. This is by far the easier of the two options.
(2) APPOINT AN ISRAELI AS YOUR OFFICIAL REPRESENTATIVE WITH THE ITA
This is a somewhat more arduous process. A Director of the Israeli entity needs to sign a tax form (Form 22 to be exact), as does this Representative. If the Director doesn't reside in Israel, then s/he will need to sign this form and have it apostilled. Then the Representative will need to sign this form either at the VAT office or in front of a lawyer.
There's more to say, and anyone wishing to execute this should definitely review the process in detail with their trusted guides on these matters.
I hope this clears up a few things, which will in turn allow everyone to smile more. And after all, isn't that what life is all about? 😊
If you're an international company or a foreigner-resident looking to set up shop in Israel but don't know where to turn for full-spectrum guidance and operational assistance, we've got you covered. As your outsourced team, we can be as fully involved as you need so you can run your Israeli entity with ease – including reporting and liaising with parent companies abroad.
When working with our firm you'll discover that navigating Israeli bureaucracy, English, and a high-level of service actually all go hand-in-hand.
FogelCFO: Outsourced flexibility; In-house approach.