Before opening the form, create a folder for each year and find out whether the simplified filing route fits your circumstances. A job change, a gap in employment or an overlooked tax benefit is a reason to check, not a promise of money. This guide provides general information rather than personal tax advice; questions involving complex income or eligibility belong with the Tax Authority or a qualified professional.
Start with the year, not your most recent employer
A payslip describes a particular month with a particular employer. A refund review brings the year together. Even if you remember a surprisingly large deduction, do not assume that amount will come back. First establish the year's income and tax withheld, then examine the relief relevant to that year.
Flag years when you changed employers, held two jobs or moved between paid employment and months without salary. These are useful starting points for gathering records. The change may already have been reflected in payroll or tax coordination, so its existence alone does not demonstrate an overpayment.
For illustration only, someone who worked early in the year, spent time unemployed and then started another job should collect records from both employers and any unemployment benefit statement. A month without wages should not be entered as a month without income until the records have been checked. Make a simple month-by-month list of who paid you and which document records the payment.
Which years are open, and when does 2020 close?
The Tax Authority says an overpayment claim can be submitted up to six years after the relevant tax year. In 2026, that means 2020 through 2025. The application deadline for 2020 is December 31, 2026. For 2021, it is December 31, 2027.
Start with the earliest year still open, especially if you need records from an old employer. Keep each year's figures separate and use the form for that year. The first form a search engine displays may not be the one your application needs.
There is also a distinction between adjusting withholding during an ongoing year and requesting a refund for a completed year. Questions about withholding on payslips still being issued should be discussed separately with payroll or the Tax Authority. Reviewing your 2026 deductions before the year ends is therefore a different task from applying for a 2025 refund. Do not submit an incomplete year's figures as though they were a final annual total.
Form 106 is the starting point, not the entire file
Form 106 is an employer-issued annual statement of salary and tax withheld. Collect one from every employer for the relevant year, including a job you held briefly. If a statement is missing, ask payroll for the specific year you need.
Depending on your circumstances, you may also need National Insurance statements covering unemployment benefits, maternity payments or reserve service benefits, along with pension fund, provident fund or life insurance certificates. The Tax Authority's document list includes Form 161 for people leaving employment. Couples submitting together must include both spouses' income as directed.
Prepare the bank account confirmation or check copy requested to validate your account details. An approved refund goes to the account supplied. Check that the document is legible and the details are correct before uploading it. The destination for the money should receive the same attention as the figures used to calculate it.
Name files by year, document type and issuing employer or institution. Open each scan to check that all pages are present. This is an organizational suggestion, not an eligibility rule: a tidy folder makes it easier to compare the original with your entries and locate a document if further information is requested.
Review tax relief without guessing your eligibility
Israeli tax credit points, called nekudot zikui, reduce the amount of tax calculated. They are not an automatic payment awarded for submitting a refund request. Compare the information on Form 106 with your circumstances during that year. Where something appears to have been missed, check the applicable conditions and supporting document before changing the calculation.
Do not copy the number of credit points from another year or another family member's return. Similarly, a pension contribution or insurance payment does not establish that its entire value produces a refund. Gather the annual certificate and check the relevant year's instructions, including what payroll has already taken into account.
For donations, distinguish making a charitable payment from qualifying for tax relief. Relevant conditions include the institution's approval under Section 46 and the applicable year's amount and recognition rules. A payment to a nonprofit is not automatically an eligible donation. Check the receipt and approval, and whether relief has already been given for it.
The Tax Authority also operates the Israel Donations system, which may show donations reported by approved institutions. Such records can help you assemble the file. Still check the donor, year and amount. Do not enter the same donation twice simply because you have both a receipt and a record in your personal account.
Run a preliminary calculation before applying
Before applying, review the calculation using the Tax Authority's instructions and tables for the year concerned. Use the records you collected rather than estimates from memory or net amounts deposited in your bank account. If you cannot place a payment in the correct field, write down the question and seek clarification before proceeding.
Treat the result as a preliminary calculation dependent on your inputs. It is not confirmation that an application has been received or money authorized. If the result seems unexpected, check whether an employer was omitted, an amount went into the wrong field or a benefit was counted twice. Resolve a discrepancy before submitting a return you do not understand.
Submit through the official service and retain confirmation
The simplified Form 135 route is for people who are not required to submit an annual return and meet the service's conditions. Business income or other tax circumstances may require a different route. Being an employee does not establish an exemption from annual filing in every situation, so check this before proceeding.
Start at the Tax Authority's official Form 135 refund service. The Tax Authority's guide describes applying through the online return system and registering online where the necessary registration is missing. Read the service conditions and submission instructions first. Prepare your records, enter the year's information and complete submission according to the instructions displayed to you.
Before sending, compare the entered totals with your certificates. Keep a copy of the return, attachments and submission confirmation. Saving a draft or uploading a document should not be treated as proof that the application was sent. Find the completion confirmation and place it in the correct year's folder.
After submission, and before paying a refund company
Keep the assessment notice and compare its calculation with the return you submitted. If a refund is due, it is paid into the nominated bank account, subject to the details matching the Tax Authority's records. Avoid committing the expected money to a purchase on an assumed payment date. Check the application's progress and respond to any requests for missing records.
Private help is an option, but clarify what the service includes. Ask for written terms covering the work, fee, VAT, minimum charge and payment trigger. If the fee is a percentage of the refund, ask which amount the percentage applies to and what happens if no refund results. Compare that offer with the work you can handle by applying directly to the Tax Authority.
The aim is to complete an accurate review, not to prove in advance that money must be owed. Start with one year and resolve the missing records. If changing employers also exposed disorganized pension records, the separate guide to finding forgotten pension savings offers another useful task without confusing it with the tax review.
More articles in the Money section.
