Taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland
Iceland: Taxes on income, profits and capital gains was 34.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland, 1972–2023
Source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of revenue.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 34.6% for taxes on income, profits and capital gains in 2023. That is the highest value across all 52 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.2% on the previous year and up 37.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland peaked at 34.6% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 7.4%, in 1985.
Iceland ranks 32nd of 153 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 52 years of available data.
Taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % of revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 17.3% | — |
| 1973 | 17.2% | -0.9% |
| 1974 | 12.2% | -28.7% |
| 1975 | 9.0% | -26.6% |
| 1976 | 9.4% | +4.4% |
| 1977 | 8.0% | -14.9% |
| 1978 | 9.8% | +22.9% |
| 1979 | 12.3% | +25.6% |
| 1980 | 10.7% | -13.0% |
| 1981 | 10.6% | -1.3% |
| 1982 | 11.1% | +4.6% |
| 1983 | 10.5% | -5.4% |
| 1984 | 9.2% | -12.1% |
| 1985 | 7.4% | -19.6% |
| 1986 | 9.9% | +34.1% |
| 1987 | 8.5% | -14.6% |
| 1988 | 11.6% | +36.4% |
| 1989 | 16.2% | +40.1% |
| 1990 | 19.5% | +20.7% |
| 1991 | 20.3% | +3.7% |
| 1992 | 20.2% | -0.2% |
| 1993 | 20.2% | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 21.3% | +5.8% |
| 1995 | 22.2% | +3.9% |
| 1996 | 23.4% | +5.4% |
| 1997 | 21.3% | -9.0% |
| 1998 | 22.3% | +5.0% |
| 1999 | 24.2% | +8.4% |
| 2000 | 25.3% | +4.5% |
| 2001 | 26.5% | +4.8% |
| 2002 | 26.2% | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 27.3% | +4.2% |
| 2004 | 27.2% | -0.6% |
| 2005 | 25.7% | -5.3% |
| 2006 | 26.6% | +3.4% |
| 2007 | 27.0% | +1.5% |
| 2008 | 24.6% | -9.0% |
| 2009 | 23.5% | -4.4% |
| 2010 | 24.7% | +4.9% |
| 2011 | 23.8% | -3.5% |
| 2012 | 23.3% | -1.9% |
| 2013 | 25.2% | +8.1% |
| 2014 | 27.6% | +9.5% |
| 2015 | 28.0% | +1.2% |
| 2016 | 19.9% | -28.9% |
| 2017 | 30.6% | +53.7% |
| 2018 | 29.7% | -2.8% |
| 2019 | 31.1% | +4.7% |
| 2020 | 33.1% | +6.3% |
| 2021 | 31.1% | -6.2% |
| 2022 | 32.9% | +5.8% |
| 2023 | 34.6% | +5.2% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 34.6% is above the median for high income countries, which is 24.5%, 1.4× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 34.6% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 20.9%, 1.7× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | +53.7% | 19.9% | 30.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 11.9% | 8.0% | 17.3% | 8 |
| 1980s | 10.6% | 7.4% | 16.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 21.5% | 19.5% | 24.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 26.0% | 23.5% | 27.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 26.4% | 19.9% | 31.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 32.9% | 31.1% | 34.6% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More public sector data for Iceland
- Military expenditure (current USD), per capita 0 current USD per person (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per unit of GDP 0 current USD per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), gaps filled 0 current USD (2024)
- Military expenditure (current USD), per square kilometre 0 current USD per square kilometre (2023)
- Tax revenue 23.2% (2023)
- Capital stock, General government, Current prices, Domestic currency 1,595 (2019)
- Capital stock, General government, Constant prices, Percent of GDP 51.25 (2019)
- Capital stock, General government, Constant prices, Purchasing power 10.26 (2019)
- Taxes on goods and services 35.2% (2023)
- Net investment in nonfinancial assets 2.3% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland?
- Taxes on income, profits and capital gains in Iceland was 34.6% in 2023, according to Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest taxes on income, profits and capital gains recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 34.6% in 2023.
- What is the lowest taxes on income, profits and capital gains recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.4% in 1985.
- How does Iceland rank for taxes on income, profits and capital gains?
- Iceland ranks 32nd out of 153 countries with data for 2023.
- Is taxes on income, profits and capital gains rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 37.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Taxes on income, profits and capital gains (% of revenue). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Taxes on income, profits, and capital gains are taxes payable on the actual or presumed incomes, profits and capital gains. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of revenue which includes all transactions that add to the amount of economic value of a unit or sector.