Tax credit points in Israel (nekudot zikui) in 2026: the full schedule, children, olim, degrees, and how not to lose any

How a credit point works

Israeli income tax is calculated in two steps. First the bracket schedule is applied to monthly taxable income, giving a "gross tax". Then ₪242 per credit point is subtracted. A point reduces tax, not income: it is worth exactly the same to an employee on ₪8,000 and an executive on ₪40,000, provided there is at least that much gross tax to wipe out. Excess points are lost: an employee whose gross tax is ₪400 and who has 2.25 points (₪544.50) pays nothing, but does not receive the difference.

Points are counted by month. A right that starts during the year (birth, discharge, aliyah) applies from that month, and a child counts by the age they reach during the tax year, not on their birthday.

The 2026 credit points schedule

Each line has its own conditions (duration, proof, which parent), detailed below. Your exact situation takes seconds in the income tax calculator.

Points for children, by age and by parent

This is the heaviest item and the one that has changed most. Since 2024, points for children under 6 have been raised sharply, especially at ages 1 and 2, and they are the same for mother and father up to age 5. In 2026, children aged 6 to 17 give 2 points to the mother and 1 point to the father.

Three practical rules. The mother can defer one point from the birth year to the next year, useful if she worked little in the year she gave birth. After a separation, the "custody" points go to the parent the child lives with, and the other parent keeps the under-6 points. A single parent (the other parent deceased or unknown) combines both columns, plus a single-parent point: 9 points for a 2-year-old, for example.

Points for new immigrants

For a first aliyah from 1 January 2022 (amendment 262), the schedule runs over 54 months and starts more gently than before:

Olim who arrived before 2022 stay on the old schedule (3 points a year for 18 months, then 2 and 1 over the next two years, 42 months in total). On request, an absence from Israel of at least six months and at most three years is not counted. The other benefits, including the ten-year exemption on foreign income, are in the oleh tax benefits guide.

University and professional degrees

For a degree completed in 2023 or later, the rule is more generous than before: 1 point a year for up to 3 tax years after the year you graduate for a bachelor's, and 0.5 point a year for 2 tax years for a master's. For a degree completed between 2014 and 2022, it was 1 point for a single year (the year after graduating or the one after that) for a bachelor's, and 0.5 point for a master's. Doctorates, medicine and professions with an internship (law, accounting, where the point can be deferred until after the internship) have specific rules: have your case checked, as for a degree earned abroad. The claim is made with Form 119 and proof of the degree, then on Form 101.

Military and national service

The points run from the month after discharge, for 36 months. Young olim who serve as lone soldiers are covered like everyone else: it is one of the points most often forgotten after leaving the army.

Special family situations

• Single parent: 1 extra point, whatever the number of children, when the other parent is deceased or unknown; a separated or divorced parent raising the child also has a specific point.
• Incapacitated child or adult dependent (paralysis, blindness, recognised intellectual disability): 2 points per person.
• Alimony paid to a former spouse by a remarried resident: 1 point.
• Dependent spouse: 1 point if one spouse has reached retirement age, is blind or has a recognised disability.

The peripheral localities credit

This is not a point but a percentage credit: residents of a locality on the official list get a tax reduction of 7% to 20% of their earned income, up to an annual ceiling set per locality (roughly ₪146,000 to ₪268,000 in 2026). Your center of life must be there for at least twelve consecutive months; a partial year gives a pro-rated credit. The list (close to 500 localities in 2026, including Sderot, Kiryat Shmona, Karmiel, and a separate regime for Eilat) is published every year by the Tax Authority: check yours before you move, the difference can exceed several thousand shekels a year.

Worked examples

Same salaries, different points: here is what points change on a 2026 payslip.

How to claim your points

1. Fill in Form 101 (tofes 101) when you start a job and every January: family status, children with dates of birth, aliyah date, degree, discharge, locality of residence.
2. Attach proof: teudat oleh, discharge certificate, degree certificate (with Form 119), divorce ruling for alimony.
3. Check the next payslip: the number of points (nekudot zikui) is shown. If it is wrong, tell payroll straight away.
4. Several employers: points apply only once, at your main employer; the second applies a flat rate unless you arrange a tax coordination (teum mas).
5. Missed points: file a tax refund claim for the years concerned, up to six years back.

Six common mistakes

• Not redoing Form 101 in January: the employer keeps the old situation, without the new child.
• Forgetting the teudat oleh at your first job: months 1 to 12 are lost if nobody claims them.
• Thinking only the mother has points for young children: since 2024, the father has the same up to age 5.
• Letting points apply at the second employer instead of the main one.
• Ignoring the degree point, especially for a foreign degree recognised in Israel.
• Letting six years go by: beyond that, the oldest years can no longer be recovered.

What changes in 2027

Indexation of the tax brackets is frozen for 2025, 2026 and 2027; the value of a point (₪242) stayed the same from 2024 to 2026. Barring new legislation it should stay close in 2027, but the budget law can change the points for children or olim, as it did in 2024. The peripheral localities list and ceilings are republished every January. This page and the calculator will be updated as soon as the official 2027 schedule is published.