This thread is all about shipping to Israel. I will be happy to answer any related questions either here or by PM.

Here is a general overview of the "Rights" of an Oleh Hadash as it applies to shipping:
Oleh Hadash
An Oleh can import 3 “Oleh” shipments of any size within 3 years of making Aliya. If a shipment is larger than a full container, it will count as 2 shipments unless both shipments come in on the same ship and are cleared through customs at the same time. What you bring with you on your Aliyah flight will not count as one of these three imports. Your shipments can come from any country, not only the country from which you are making Aliya.

Benefits
• Tax free items that may be imported:
o Books, clothing, linens, kitchen utensils, pictures, decorations, media, and general “Personal Effects”
o One of each type of appliance or electronic equipment. (These are for household use, not office equipment such as a fax).
o Carpeting up to 25% of the area of the oleh’s home in Israel.
o Olim can import Air Conditioners, Fans, and Heaters relative to the number of rooms in their new home in Israel.
• Olim can buy an Israeli Made refrigerator or air conditioner in Israel tax-free. There is a process for doing this, so don’t walk into a store with your Teudat Oleh and expect to get a discount. You need to go to a participating store, get a pro-forma invoice, take that to Meches, get it stamped, and then return to the store.
• Olim can either buy a car in Israel or import a car and only pay 72%-80% in Taxes (as opposed to 120% – 125% for citizens). If you want to use your rights when buying a used car, you must buy from someone who previously bought with Oleh rights (called passport-to-passport).
• Olim are exempt from the 1.02% Port Tax

Notable Exceptions to Tax Free Imports
• Sports Equipment
• Camping Equipment
• Bar-b-q Grills
• Fax Machines
• Outdoor furniture and swings
• Pool tables and ping-pong tables
• Building supplies and non-household goods
• A motorized wheelchair needs approval before being imported
• Alcohol is highly taxable, and any import over 5 liters must have proper approvals before importing
• Weapons are highly restricted and should not be imported.
• Olim and toshvim hozrim pay 15.5% VAT on all Israeli services such as Israeli customs clearance and delivery in Israel.

All goods imported with rights must stay in your possession for six years from the date of import or depreciated taxes must be paid to Meches. (A car must stay in your possession for five years).

Are there any other options besides a life for shipping? we have nowhere near enough stuff to warrant our own lift... we need *maybe* 1/4 of one. Is there any other sort of shipping methods available to someone coming from Canada iy'h this summer?

REALLY? Congrats!!


And yes, there are. If you have any companies or whatever that ship to Isarel find out if they'll give you a corner of their container.

B'hatzlacha. Klita nieema!!

I think what you are asking is if you can ship less than a full container. The answer is yes, however depending on your origin in Canada the cost of shipping a "Partial Container" may be close to the cost of shipping a full container.

If you are in Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver, there are plenty of shipping companies that "Consolidate" containers, meaning that you pay for the space and services that you use. The farther away from one of these cities you are, the greater the cost of trucking your goods to one of these cities to go into a Consolidated container. So if you're in Kingston Ontatrio (for example) you might find that the cost of shipping 500 cubic feet (about 1/2 of a small container, or 1/4 of a large container) in a consolidated load is the same as shipping that 500 cubic feet in an exclusive (only your stuff) small container.

If you have 3 or 4 boxes, the best way to do this is to bring them on the airplane with you (even paying for extra luggage) but if you have 3 or 4 pieces of furniture, and "stuff" that will need to be boxed, have 3 Shipping Companies come to your home to do a free, no-obligation visual survey and quote based on what you're shipping. Have each company do a visual survey - any company that doesn't do this for free should be crossed off your list (unless you're someplace really remote).

Make sure the quote includes Israeli Port Fees and "THC" (Terminal Handling Charges) as you will need to pay these charges, and they are not Governmentally Regulated.

The last option is to "Share" a lift with someone else that is shipping goods. The difference between this and going as part of a Group or consolidated container is that the goods go under one person's name, and everyone pretends it is that person's stuff. This saves the cost of all of the related paperwork, clearing, and port fees associated with doing a shipment, but you won't be declaring the goods in your name, which means you can't use your rights. While it's technically illegal, if you're not shipping any Electronics or Appliances, or if taxes are being paid on the entire shipment, no one really cares. Obviously, if someone with rights sends stuff tax-free for someone without rights, that IS an issue and people care. I don't suggest this unless it is a family member or close friend, as there are other problems (like if the other person doesn't pay their bills, you don't get your stuff) that can occur, and you have no real recourse against the person in whose name the shipment goes or the shipping company.

Welcome Home!

Does that mean if we have, say 2 tv's here in the UK, that we have to sell one of them before coming to Israel or pay more tax to bring it in as a second tv? How ridiculous. I thought Israel was trying to encourage Aliyah not make it less attractive for people to come.

PS. How much is shipping to Israel in general from the UK for say, one container?

Correct, if you have 2 TV's and you ship both of them, you will pay taxes on the declared value of the least expensive. Considering how quickly electronics depreciate in value, it is often times worth bringing it and paying taxes versus buying a replacement here. Once you see Israeli TV, I'm sure you'll understand why having one TV is plenty for most families.

It is impossible for anyone to give an estimate from the internet. Have 3 companies come and do a visual survey of what you want to ship, and have them quote based on the survey. As a general guideline, assume 3500-4000 GBP for a 20 foot long container from the London Area.

leaving from toronto, in roughly what ballpark should the lift cost be? We were told all in about $5000, but now we are getting quotes that are double that, and we are nto sure what to do!

Start by throwing away all prices, estimates, and quotes that were not based on a visual survey. You aren't shipping uniform sized goods from a warehouse, you're shipping stuff from a home. The serious companies will want to do a visual anyway.

I could say $5000 also, but until my surveyor sees what the deal is, it's just a made up number. This is why your getting prices all over, by the way. No-one has a real idea of what is being shipped, or what size truck can get to your home.

All our quotes were from people who came out and did estimates. Our cheapest for a 20 foot lift is $7800 Door to door.

I hear shipping costs have all skyrocketed along with the oil prices.

The cost or Oil, and the fall of the USD have combined to make this a very expensive year to ship from North America. The price seems in line with what I would expect. Just make sure that they have in writing how much you will have to pay here in Israel (It may be listed as Port Fees, or THC - Terminal Handling Charge" and legitimate companies will put it in writing.
The company should also be able to provide references of other people they have shipped here.
If you want me to review the quote to make sure it covers what you need it to, and to explain any "Shippingeze" pm it to me.

Is that correct?? 8 0 % taxes ?
8 0 % of what? - its current market value?
So if a car was bought in the states for $2000 - one would have to pay $1600 to the Israeli Customs?
What if the car is a gift? (In NY, cars that were received as a gift are exempted from tax)

I did my research already. Yes the taxes are ridiculous.

ארץ ישראל נקנת ביסורים--
and unfortunately the Israeli beauracracy plays a big role in it with the huge עגמת נפש and trouble they make one go through..
the aliyah 'rights' is just a way for the Israeli government to rip you off..

There are a few ways that Meches will determine the value of a car:

1 - The Invoice (assuming the invoice is a reasonable amount resembling what the car is worth according to a verifiable source)
2 - A reliable source, like Kelly's Blue Book, Edmonds, etc
3 - A formula as follows:
Take the price, new, of the same make and model, in the latest year that model was made. Then, deduct about 1% a month for each month of age
4 - Mechiron, the Israeli Blue Book.

My company imported 40 cars last month alone, and Meches never went by the Mechiron. However, just because the car is a gift, doesn't mean it is valueless. Look at kbb.com Retail Value and use that as a guideline. We've used that with Meches with success, by the way.

The procedure (which is riveted with "protezia" for the commercial importers of cars into this country) is much easier for an Oleh than a regular Israeli. An Oleh doesn't need to deal with Misrad HaTachbura at all, as Meches does that. An Oleh has almost no restrictions on age or country of manufacture.

Most of the cars we imported in the last 6 months were for regular Israelis, who pay 106-120%, simply because the USD is so weak right now.

I always suggest doing the math both ways - compare what it would cost to import the car versus buying the same type here. As with most things, if the idea is to find the cheapest way, buy something cheap here. If your total budget is $20,000 or more, chances are very good it will make sense to import.

Keep in mind that you can also use your rights to buy a car here, either new, or used (from someone who used their rights on a car and now want to sell it).

This is a real savings, not some smokescreen. Once your rights run out, you'll be in the same 106-120% category the rest of us are in. If you want a smoke screen, try importing a car into the US. If it wasn't sold there new, you can practically forget it.