The Israel Tax Authority has announced a revision of the outlook for revenue from royalties on gas and oil profits following a 6% rise in the estimate of proven and projected gas reserves and the contingent reserves in the Leviathan reservoir, and a 2% rise in the expected price of gas from the reservoir.
In the current forecast, between $60 billion and $75 billion will accrue to the Israel Citizens Fund by the time the reservoirs are empty, which compares with an estimate of between $57 billion and $74 billion last year.
In the coming decade, the fund is expected to take in $21-25 billion. This is just the accrual to the wealth fund. The state also gains from the gas reservoirs through regular levies on natural resources, and from taxes on the production companies. For 2026, the Tax Authority forecasts $500-600 million revenue for the wealth fund.
The Israel Citizens Fund takes in the "Sheshinski tax" collected from gas and oil companies once they reach a threshold of a 50% profit after payback of their investment. From that point, the tax rises to a maximum of 46.8% on the extra profit.
The tax currently applies only to the Tamar reservoir. The Leviathan was due to become liable to it shortly, but the incidence of the tax was deferred because of the expansion project which increased the investment in the reservoir, with the aim of substantially increasing annual output. In addition to this tax, which goes to the wealth fund, Israel also collects royalties and companies tax, which go straight to the state budget.
By law, 3.5% of the Israel Citizens Fund’s cumulative assets may be withdrawn annually for purposes such as investment in renewable energy and employment in the Negev. From the eighth year of its operation, that is from 2030, it will also be permissible to withdraw the fund’s profits.
According to Lobby 99, previous forecasts have not been borne out. "Billions of shekels were promised to the public from profits on natural resources - natural gas, the Dead Sea and phosphates - but much of the money has never arrived, contrary to the forecasts.
"This is a question of a public resource, and instead of the public winning its proper share, and information on how much it receives in relation to the companies’ profits, in Israel there is no transparency, and so the lawyers and accountants of the gas companies and of ICL are able to take advantage of every tax loophole that there is. We say to the Tax Authority that in order to collect the public’s rightful share, there has to be transparency," Lobby 99 said.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 30, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.
