Israeli Spreadsheets

Israeli Spreadsheets

Instructions

Step 1: Set Up Python Environment

Install openpyxl:

pip install openpyxl

Step 2: Israeli Financial Constants

• VAT rate: 18% (raised from 17% on 2025-01-01). A rise to 19% was floated at the Finance Ministry but not enacted: the 2026 state budget contains no such increase.
• Tax brackets 2026 (after the 2026 bracket widening): 10% up to 84,120 NIS, 14% up to 120,720, 20% up to 228,000, 31% up to 301,200, 35% up to 560,280, then 47% on every additional shekel. The 20% and 31% bands were widened on 1 January 2026; the other thresholds were carried over from 2025 (frozen through 2027).
• There is no statutory 50% bracket. The official table stops at 47%. The 50% figure comes from adding the Section 121B(a) surtax of 3% on taxable income above 721,560 NIS, which gives 50% effective on personal-exertion income. Section 121B(a1) adds a FURTHER 2% on capital-source income above the same threshold, so investment income above it reaches 5% of surtax, not 3%. Label these as surtax, not as brackets, or a sheet will apply the capital limb to salary.
• Credit point value: 2,904 NIS/year (242 NIS/month). Entitlement is 2.25 points for a male Israeli resident and 2.75 for a female Israeli resident (the extra half point for a woman). Using 2.25 for everyone understates a woman's credit by 1,452 NIS/year.
• Bituach Leumi (employee, resident aged 18 to retirement age): 1.04% up to the reduced-collection step of 7,703 NIS/month, 7.00% above it up to the 51,910 NIS/month maximum insurable income; income above that is not insurable
• Health tax (employee, same category): 3.23% up to 7,703 NIS/month, 5.17% above
• Those two lines are ONE ROW of the official table. The employee rate varies by age, pension status and disability status, and for several categories it is ZERO. See "Step 2.5: the full employee rate table" below before generating any payroll sheet.

Step 2.5: The Full Employee Bituach Leumi / Health Tax Table

The single 1.04% / 7.00% row above applies ONLY to an Israeli resident aged 18 to retirement age. The official Bituach Leumi table (the "לעובדים שכירים" rates page) publishes a combined EMPLOYEE percentage for every category below. Several are zero. Applying the standard row to a working pensioner or an under-18 employee over-deducts the entire employee contribution.

Combined employee rate (Bituach Leumi + health tax), reduced band up to 7,703 NIS/month | full band from there to 51,910 NIS/month:

Notes:

• The employer rate varies too, from 4.51% / 7.6% for the standard row down to 0.61% / 2.12% for an under-18 employee or a working pensioner.
• The official page splits Bituach Leumi from health tax only for the standard row (1.04% / 7.00% and 3.23% / 5.17%). For the other categories it publishes the combined employee figure, which is what this table carries.
• Ask which category the employee falls into before generating a payroll sheet. Do not silently default to the standard row.

Step 3: Tax Calculation Functions

Progressive (marginal) tax calculation with credit point deduction. Use Python Decimal for precision.

Step 4: Formatted Workbooks

Set ws.sheet_view.rightToLeft = True for RTL sheets. NIS format: '#,##0.00 "₪"'

Step 5: Templates

The bundled scripts/generate_spreadsheet.py produces three RTL Hebrew templates via --template {invoice,salary,arnona} --output FILE.xlsx:

• Invoice (Heshbonit Mas): Business/customer details, item table, subtotal, 18% VAT, total
• Salary slip (Tlush Maskoret): earnings, gross total, deductions and net pay, all as live formulas. The income-tax line uses the MONTHLY personal-exertion bracket grid and subtracts both the credit points and the Section 45A credit (35% of the employee-side pension deposit) from the tax owed, otherwise the withheld amount is overstated. The credit points, the Bituach Leumi and health-tax rates, the collection bands and the pension and keren hishtalmut rates are all INPUT cells, so the sheet can be set to the employee's actual category from the Step 2.5 table rather than defaulting to the standard row.
• Arnona estimator: builds the calculation structure (it is not a per-city rate table). It does NOT ship per-city rates, because a single number per city cannot be right. Each municipality publishes a צו הארנונה for the year with tariffs per sqm per YEAR, stratified by zone, building type and area band. Tel Aviv's 2026 order alone has 5 zones times 6 residential building types, running from 46.64 to 139.60 NIS per sqm per year. Read the tariff for the specific property out of the municipality's order and enter it as an input.

Step 6: Google Sheets (RTL and ILS)

Many users work in Google Sheets rather than Excel. For Hebrew worksheets:

• Turn on right-to-left sheet direction (a per-tab setting, reachable from the Format menu and from the toolbar RTL toggle). This flips column order so Hebrew reads naturally. It is per-tab: a newly added tab reverts to left-to-right.
• Set the spreadsheet locale via File > Settings > Locale > Israel so dates parse as DD/MM/YYYY and currency defaults to NIS.
• Format currency cells with Format > Number > Custom number format using #,##0.00 ₪ (or apply the built-in ILS currency format from the locale).
• For live exchange rates, use GOOGLEFINANCE, for example =GOOGLEFINANCE("CURRENCY:USDILS") returns USD-to-ILS. Multiply a USD amount by this to convert to shekels.
• Google Sheets has no openpyxl-style API, build templates by hand or with Apps Script. The tax constants and VAT logic in this skill apply identically.
• Gemini-powered helpers: enhanced Smart Fill with Gemini (it surfaces itself as a live suggestion while you type rather than sitting behind an Insert menu item; the toggle lives under Tools > Suggestion controls) and the in-cell =AI("prompt", range) formula, which Google's function list also documents under the alias Gemini(). =AI() is a Google Workspace with Gemini feature, so it is tier-gated and usage-limited; a sheet full of =AI() calls will hit caps. Treat its output as a draft: an Israeli payroll or invoice line still needs the deterministic VAT and tax-bracket math, not an LLM guess.

Step 6.5: Common Israeli Formulas

Reusable formulas that match the constants above. They work identically in Excel and Google Sheets unless noted.

VAT (18%) inside one cell:

Net to gross:                  =A1*1.18
Gross to net:                  =A1/1.18
VAT amount on a VAT-inclusive price: =A1-A1/1.18    (or =A1*0.18/1.18)
VAT amount on a VAT-exclusive price: =A1*0.18

NIS currency format string (Excel custom format, symbol after the number per Israeli convention):

#,##0.00 [$₪-40D]

The shorter #,##0.00 "₪" form also works and is what the bundled script uses. Excel's [$symbol-locale] token expects a hexadecimal LCID, not a BCP-47 tag, so the portable locale-tagged form is [$₪-40D] (0x040D is Hebrew-Israel). Newer Excel builds may accept and normalise [$₪-he-IL] in the UI, but that literal string is not portable through openpyxl or older builds.

Progressive income tax (2026 brackets, annual income in A1, residents only) -- Google Sheets / Excel 365:

=LET(inc, A1, credit, 2.25*2904,
  MAX(0,
    MIN(inc,84120)*0.10
    + MAX(0, MIN(inc,120720)-84120)*0.14
    + MAX(0, MIN(inc,228000)-120720)*0.20
    + MAX(0, MIN(inc,301200)-228000)*0.31
    + MAX(0, MIN(inc,560280)-301200)*0.35
    + MAX(0, MIN(inc,721560)-560280)*0.47
    + MAX(0, inc-721560)*0.50
    - credit))

The last two terms are NOT brackets. The statutory ladder ends at 47% above 560,280. MAX(0, MIN(inc,721560)-560280)*0.47 plus MAX(0, inc-721560)*0.50 is 47% throughout plus the Section 121B(a) 3% surtax above 721,560, which is correct ONLY for personal-exertion income (yegia ishit). For capital-source income add Section 121B(a1)'s further 2%, giving 0.52 on the last term.

This ladder is also for personal-exertion income only. The Tax Authority publishes a SEPARATE table for non-exertion income (rent, investment, most passive income): 31% up to 301,200 NIS/year, 35% up to 560,280, then 47%. There is no 10% / 14% / 20% band at all. Applying the ladder above to rental income understates the tax substantially.

The LET helper keeps the formula readable and runs once instead of repeating A1 seven times. For older Excel versions, expand LET into separate cells.

Bituach Leumi + health tax (employee side, monthly salary in A1):

Bituach Leumi:  =MIN(A1,7703)*0.0104 + MAX(0, MIN(A1,51910)-7703)*0.07
Health tax:     =MIN(A1,7703)*0.0323 + MAX(0, MIN(A1,51910)-7703)*0.0517

Income above the 51,910 NIS/month maximum insurable income is not insurable, so both formulas cap at that figure.

Hebrew day of week from a Gregorian date in A1 (locale-aware):

=TEXT(A1,"dddd")

Returns "ראשון", "שני", etc., when the workbook locale is he-IL. Outside an Israeli locale, fall back to =CHOOSE(WEEKDAY(A1,1),"ראשון","שני","שלישי","רביעי","חמישי","שישי","שבת").

Israeli holidays via Hebcal: Hebcal does not have a direct spreadsheet function. Pick the geonameid deliberately: Jerusalem is 281184 and Tel Aviv is 293397, and they differ in candle-lighting offsets, so a sheet labelled for one city while querying the other emits wrong times. Either:

• Export a year-range CSV from hebcal.com (Yom Tov + minor holidays + parashat hashavua) and VLOOKUP against the Gregorian date column, or
• In Google Sheets, drive a Hebcal REST call from Apps Script (UrlFetchApp.fetch('https://www.hebcal.com/hebcal?cfg=json&year=2026&maj=on&geo=geoname&geonameid=281184') (281184 is Jerusalem; 293397 is Tel Aviv)) and write the result to a hidden sheet. The hebcal MCP server (listed in Step 7) is the cleanest path when an agent is driving the workbook.

Step 7: Recommended MCP Servers

When building financial spreadsheets, these MCP servers from the directory provide live data so figures stay current:

• boi-exchange: Bank of Israel exchange rates, use for any spreadsheet that converts foreign currency to NIS or tracks the representative rate.
• hebcal: Hebrew/Jewish calendar dates, use when a worksheet needs Hebrew dates (e.g., a Hebrew-dated invoice) or must skip Shabbat and holidays.

Hebrew/Jewish date handling: openpyxl writes only Gregorian dates. To show a Hebrew date (e.g., "כ״ה אדר תשפ״ו") alongside the Gregorian one, compute it via the hebcal MCP or a library like pyluach, then write it as a text string in its own cell. Do not try to format a Gregorian date cell as Hebrew, the conversion has to happen before the value reaches the sheet.

Examples

Example 1: Create an Israeli Payroll Calculator

User says: "Build a payroll Excel sheet for an Israeli employee" Actions:

1. Create RTL workbook with Hebrew headers
2. Add income tax brackets (2026 rates: 10%, 14%, 20% to 228K, 31% to 301.2K, 35%, then 47% on every additional shekel), and the Section 121B surtax as a SEPARATE line above 721,560 NIS
3. Calculate Bituach Leumi (employee 1.04% up to 7,703 NIS, 7% from there to 51,910), health tax (3.23% / 5.17% on the same bands)
4. Include pension (6.0% employee + 6.5% employer, plus 6.0% severance by employer) and keren hishtalmut
5. Apply Section 45a tax credit (35% of employee-side pension deposit) against the income tax line
6. Format all amounts as NIS with Hebrew labels Result: Complete Israeli payroll calculator with net salary computation that reflects the 45a pension credit

Example 2: Generate Israeli Invoice Template

User says: "Create a tax invoice template in Hebrew with VAT calculation" Actions:

1. Set up RTL Excel with Hebrew column headers
2. Add business details fields (osek murshe number, address)
3. Include line items with quantity, unit price, subtotal
4. Calculate 18% VAT, display total in NIS
5. Add invoice number and Hebrew date fields Result: VAT-compliant Hebrew invoice spreadsheet template

Bundled Resources

Scripts

• scripts/generate_spreadsheet.py -- Generates ready-to-use RTL Hebrew Excel templates with Israeli tax constants and NIS formatting baked in. Three templates: invoice (heshbonit mas with 18% VAT line), salary (tlush maskoret with earnings and deductions), arnona (annual and bi-monthly arnona calculator; the per-sqm tariff is a user input, not a shipped constant). Run: python scripts/generate_spreadsheet.py --template {invoice,salary,arnona} --output FILE.xlsx. Requires openpyxl.

References

• references/israeli-tax-rates.md -- Israeli income tax brackets, Bituach Leumi and health tax rates, VAT rate, pension requirements, minimum wage, and common financial constants. Consult when building any financial calculations for Israeli context.

Gotchas

• Hebrew text in spreadsheets requires RTL cell alignment. Default LTR alignment causes Hebrew to display incorrectly, with punctuation and numbers appearing on the wrong side.
• Israeli date format in spreadsheets is DD/MM/YYYY, not MM/DD/YYYY. Excel and Google Sheets may auto-parse "01/03/2026" as January 3rd (US) instead of March 1st (Israeli). Always set locale to Hebrew (Israel).
• NIS currency formatting places the symbol after the number, not before it (US-style). Both ₪ and the abbreviation ש"ח are acceptable in Israel. This skill and the bundled script standardize on #,##0.00 ₪ (symbol after the number). Pick one convention and use it consistently across the whole workbook, do not mix ₪ and ש"ח in the same sheet.
• Israeli tax calculations in spreadsheets must account for VAT at 18%. Agents may hardcode older VAT rates (17%) from pre-2025 training data.
• 2026 income tax brackets are NOT the same as 2025. Chapter C of the Economic Efficiency Law 2026 widened the 20% and 31% bands effective 1 January 2026 (20% now to 228,000 NIS/yr; 31% to 301,200 NIS/yr; the 35% floor moved up to 301,201). Older payroll templates copied from 2024-2025 sources will overstate the tax for middle-income employees.
• Sorting Hebrew text depends on the collation of the Excel build and its system locale, and Hebrew final-form letters (ך ם ן ף ץ) sort by codepoint rather than beside their base letters unless the collation handles them. For Hebrew name lists, verify the order by eye rather than trusting the sort, or sort in Google Sheets. There is no published error rate for this; treat any specific percentage you see quoted as unsourced.
• Merged cells in an RTL Excel sheet sometimes "flip" their alignment when the file is opened by an Excel build with a non-Israeli system locale: the merged span renders in the wrong direction even though rightToLeft is set. Avoid merged cells across rows in RTL workbooks; use centered text in a wider unmerged column instead.

Reference Links

Troubleshooting

Error: "NIS symbol appears on wrong side of number"

Cause: Excel locale not set for Hebrew/Israel Solution: Use format string #,##0.00 ₪ (symbol after number) for Israeli convention, or set the workbook locale to he-IL.

Error: "Hebrew column headers display as question marks"

Cause: Workbook not saved with UTF-8 encoding or font doesn't support Hebrew Solution: Ensure the workbook uses a Unicode-compatible font (like David, Heebo, or Arial). When using openpyxl, Hebrew strings are automatically UTF-8 encoded.