The withholding tax deducted on wages is in three tax brackets. Individuals with payments from more than one employer need to make arrangements to ensure that the correct percentage of tax is deducted from their wages, to avoid tax debt at the end of year in the tax assessment.
Tax Bracket
Income range
Tax percentage
Tax Bracket 1
0 - 498.122 ISK
31,49%
Tax Bracket 2
498.123 - 1.398.450 ISK
37,99%
Tax Bracket3
yfir 1.398.450 ISK
46,29%
Responsibility for correct information
It is the responsibility of each individual to provide their employer with correct information to ensure that the correct tax percentage is deducted from the salary and that the use of the personal tax credit is correct.
If the monthly salary exceeds ISK 498,122 from one employer, salary from any other employer must be taxed in a higher tax bracket. If the monthly salary exceeds ISK 1,398,450 the amount that exceeds that threshold must be taxed in tax bracket three.
Tax brackets examples
Guðrún receives her pension payments from three different pension funds, in total 550,000 ISK per month. Firstly 350,000 ISK from pension fund A, secondly 150,000 ISK from pension fund B and thirdly from pension fund C 50,000 ISK.
What does Guðrún need to do?
She tells pension fund A to use all of her personal tax credit.
The first tax bracket is from 0 – 472,005 ISK and Guðrún therefore needs to inform pension fund B and C to calculate her withholding tax in tax bracket two fully or partially.
A part of her payment from pension fund B can be calculated in tax bracket one, but the rest needs to be in tax bracket two.
All her payments from pension fund C need to be calculated in tax bracket 2.
Employer
Amount
Tax bracket
Personal tax credit
Pension fund A
350,000 kr.
Tax bracket 1
Used at pension fund A
Pension fund B
150,000 kr.
Tax bracket 1 and 2
Pension fund C
50,000 kr.
Tax bracket 2
Danuta will be working two summer jobs this summer and estimates her total salary will be approximately 600,000 ISK per month, 500,000 ISK in one place and 100,000 ISK at the other, where she only works evenings. Danuta has been working part time in the winter beside her studies and has used part of her personal tax credit for the first five months.
What does Danuta need to do?
Summer job 1: Danuta tells them they can use her personal tax credit.
Summer job 2: Danuta tells them her salary needs to be taxed in tax bracket two. She also tells them they can use her personal tax credit she saved for the first five months. She logs on to www.skattur.is with her electronic ID or password to get a confirmation to send to her employer.
Employer
Amount
Tax bracket
Personal tax credit
Summer job 1
500,000 kr.
Tax bracket 1 and 2
Allows to use personal tax credit.
Summer job 2
100,000 kr.
Tax bracket 2
Uses the saved tax credit from the first five months of the year
Dóra works full time as a doctor at a hospital. Her monthly salary is 1,500,000 per month. Dóra also takes shifts at a health clinic.
What does Dóra need to do?
As her salary at the hospital exceeds the limit for tax brackets one and two a part of her withholding tax is calculated in tax bracket three. All of Dóras personal tax credit is used at the hospital.
Dóra makes sure that the health clinic calculates her salary in tax bracket three and cannot use any of her personal tax credit.
Employer
Amount
Tax bracket
Personal tax credit
Hospital
1,500,000 kr.
Tax bracket 1, 2 and 3
All the tax credit is used
Health clinic
500,000 kr.
Tax bracket 3
No personal tax credit
Jón works full time year-round and is going on parental leave for three months.
What does Jón need to do?
Jón tells Fæðingarorlofssjóður that he will use his personal tax credit and has no credit saved up from previous months.
When Jón returns to work he needs to inform his employer of the personal tax credit used at Fæðingarorlofssjóður.
Here are two examples of individuals who live abroad and work temporarily in Iceland.
Example 1:
Helga studies abroad and comes to Iceland in June and is employed at one workplace. She works until August, when she returns to here studies.
What does Helga need to do?
Because Helga lives abroad she is only entitled to personal tax credit for the period she stays in Iceland for work. She lets her employer know when she came to Iceland.
Example 2:
Grzegorz will work temporarily in Iceland at two different employers. At Employer 1 he will have 500,000 ISK per month and at employer 2 his monthly salary will be 200,000 ISK.
What does Grzegorz need to do?
Grzegorz uses his personal tax credit at employer 1
Grzegorz is not entitled to personal tax credit from the beginning of year as he lives abroad. He lets employer 1 know when he arrived in Iceland.
He lets employer two calculate his salary in tax bracket two.
Employer
Amount
Tax bracket
Personal tax credit
Employer 1
500,000 kr.
Tax bracket 1
Uses tax credit from arrival to Iceland
Employer 2
200,000 kr.
Tax bracket 2
No personal tax credit
Sigrun lives in Iceland and gets payments from three different pension funds, total sum of 450,000 kr. per month. One payment from pension fund A 250,000 kr. a month, another from pension fund B 50,000 kr. a month. The third payment is from a foreign pension fund 150.000 kr. a month.
What does Sigrún need to do?
The personal tax credit is needs to be divided between the Icelandic and foreign income. Her total income from Iceland is 67% of the total. It would be best for Sigrún to use 67% of her personal tax credit at pension fund A. The 33% will be used later in the tax assessment towards the foreign income.
The income from pension fund A exceeds the limit for tax bracket 1. They need to calculate her income in tax bracket 1 and 2.
Pension fund B needs to calculate her income in tax bracket 2.
The income in the foreign pension fund will be calculated with her total income for the year in tax brackets 1 and 2.
