Iceland has no proposals to tax global tech giants
Monday 26th October 2026 on 23:01 in
Iceland
More than five months after a deadline for proposals on taxing international technology companies, Iceland’s government has not completed an analysis or prepared recommendations, mbl.is reports. The proposals were part of a media action plan announced in December 2025 and were due in spring 2026.
Guðmundur Halldór Björnsson, sales and marketing director at Sýn, highlighted the delay in a post on LinkedIn. He said the proposals would not reach parliament this year, and that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs had told him no bill was on the parliamentary agenda. The ministry could not say whether or when one might be introduced.
In response to Guðmundur’s request for information, the ministry said no comprehensive analysis of taxation options had been carried out. It had not assessed potential state revenue or proposed how any revenue would be used. “No memoranda, analyses or proposals have been prepared in connection with the measure,” the ministry said, according to Guðmundur.
“It is reasonable for the government to take time to ensure tax changes are well prepared. But once the announced deadline has passed, it should be possible to say what has been done, what remains outstanding and when a conclusion is expected,” he wrote.
Guðmundur said taxing international technology companies was one of the most important measures in the plan, given their reach in Iceland’s advertising market. The government’s plan said Icelandic media were under pressure and that this also affected Icelandic society.
He noted that Austria has taxed certain digital advertising revenues of large international companies at 5% since 2020. France applies a 3% tax to certain digital services, including targeted online advertising, while the UK taxes certain revenues from social media platforms, search engines and online marketplaces at 2%. Their rules and revenue thresholds differ, he said.
Figures from Statistics Iceland cited by Guðmundur show that nearly 15 billion Icelandic krónur was spent on advertising with foreign media in 2024, accounting for 51% of all advertising expenditure. A 5% tax on 15 billion krónur would amount to about 750 million krónur a year, he said.