Israeli hi-tech sector contributes over third of national income tax: report

Jerusalem: Israel's hi-tech sector contributes more than a third of the national income tax, according to a report jointly issued by the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and the Finance Ministry on Tuesday.

The IIA said in a statement that this rate points to the Israeli hi-tech sector as a key driver of the country's economy.

The report provided a first-of-its-kind examination of state revenues related to hi-tech employment, including income tax and corporate tax payments, aiming to adjust government policy and investments by assessing how sector changes impact the economy.

In 2021, about 36 per cent of all tax payments in Israel came from the hi-tech sector, with 85 per cent of the revenue related to its workers and only 15 percent from corporate tax, according to the report, Xinhua news agency reported.

It added that the average monthly income tax payment of a hi-tech worker in Israel in 2021 was 6.3 times the average for the rest of the economy, reflecting the sector's substantial contribution to state revenues.

Between 2016 and 2021, income tax collection from hi-tech workers increased by 66 percent in real terms, indicating that the Israeli economy is increasingly dependent on income tax payments from hi-tech workers.

According to the report's authors, based on the increase in the number of high-tech employees between 2021 and 2023, along with the rise in the average salary in the sector, the direct contribution of the high-tech sector to state revenues and its share of overall revenue have likely increased during these years.