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Corporate Law

Must an Israeli company show its registered name and company number on invoices, contracts, and its website?

Yes. Section 26 of the Companies Law 5759-1999 requires a company to state its registered name and its company number on every document it issues, including invoices, receipts, orders, letters and notices. Tax invoices carry their own content requirements under the Income Tax Regulations (Bookkeeping) 5733-1973, and a VAT-registered supplier must show its number for the customer to claim input VAT. Leaving the details off does not void a contract, but it exposes the company to penalties and creates avoidable arguments about which legal person actually contracted.

When the Registrar of Companies incorporates a company it assigns a nine-digit company number, and that number rather than the name is the durable identifier. A company can change its registered name, adopt a different trading brand, or operate in Hebrew and English under two versions of the same name, but the number stays with it from incorporation to dissolution. Section 26 exists so that anyone receiving a document can trace it back to a specific legal person. Two further regimes overlap with it. Bookkeeping regulations dictate what a valid tax invoice must contain, and the Consumer Protection Law 5741-1981 requires a business selling to Israeli consumers online to identify itself, so an unbranded checkout page or an invoice showing only a logo falls short on more than one ground.

Foreign directors often treat this as formatting rather than substance, which is where problems start. Israeli counterparties verify a supplier by typing the company number into the Registrar's public database, and a document that omits it makes basic diligence impossible. Put the full registered name in both languages plus the company number in the preamble of every contract and again in the signature block, and remember that an Israeli company stamp next to a signature proves nothing about the signer's authority. Banks, the Israel Tax Authority and the Execution Office all match records by company number, so a payment or a filing tagged to the wrong entity is slow and expensive to unwind. See the guide to registering a company in Israel.

⚖ In Practice
  • Governing law: Section 26, Companies Law 5759-1999; tax invoice content under the Income Tax Regulations (Bookkeeping) 5733-1973; online disclosure under the Consumer Protection Law 5741-1981
  • Competent authorities: Registrar of Companies (Rasham HaChavarot) at the Corporations Authority, and the Israel Tax Authority (Rashut HaMisim) for invoices
  • Company number: nine digits, assigned on registration and permanent; private company numbers conventionally begin with 51
  • Where it must appear: invoices, receipts, purchase orders, letters, notices, contracts, and the company's website and email footers
  • Annual Registrar fee: approximately NIS 1,500, reduced to roughly NIS 1,150 when paid in the first quarter of the year (2026)
  • Verification: anyone can check a company's name, number and standing on the Registrar's public online database before signing

From the full guide: How to Register a Company in Israel: Guide for Foreign Entrepreneurs

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Get a Free Consultation with Adv. Eli ShimonyPrepared under the direction of Adv. Eli Shimony, Eli Shimony Law Office · Editorial policy

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