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Establish the actual foreign-business conditions
Current Article 12(1), point 2 describes services sold to a business that is neither domiciled in Iceland nor conducting business there from a fixed establishment. An American billing address does not establish both conditions. Other recipients have a separate point 3 route.
Ordinary support and work on an Icelandic building therefore need separate assessment. The point 2 exceptions include covered Icelandic property/accommodation, road access, local passenger transport, event and spa admission, catering, vehicle hire delivered to the lessee in Iceland, specified locally used telecom/broadcasting and travel services.
The recovered regulation still contains a conditional certificate rule
The official current PDF of Regulation 194/1990 labels its version in force from 9 September 2022 and the document 8 November 2026. Article 1 concerns its listed services to parties with neither residence nor a business place in Iceland. It gives alternatives: wholly used abroad, or the buyer could have deducted the VAT if its activity were Icelandically registered.
For that second, hypothetical-credit limb, the seller must request a home-country competent-authority certificate showing the buyer’s business. It is valid for two years from issue and retained like accounting records; the seller may seek two-year extensions where the basis is unchanged. That conditional wording is neither a certificate rule for every foreign invoice nor evidence that certificates have disappeared.
Do not turn either text into an unchecked invoice answer
The dates explain part of the mismatch: Act 63/2024 inserted the current business-recipient rule and separate non-business rule, and removed the former listed-service point. The official bill’s explanation describes a move from deciding actual use in Iceland to a general foreign-business recipient rule, subject to the named Icelandic-service exceptions. The older listed-service test is therefore not an adequate statement of the whole current statute.
That enactment does not, by itself, explain how every remaining condition in the current-hosted Regulation 194/1990 applies after the reform. The regulation still contains the conditional hypothetical-credit certificate rule described above, and the current Act still delegates power to set conditions. No later official instruction reconciling that certificate limb with the new business-recipient route was recovered. The regulation is not declared obsolete, and a certificate is not asserted for every U.S. invoice.
Scope
- Icelandic primary texts were read with AI assistance. The current-hosted regulation is now retrieved, but its interaction with the statutory business-recipient route is not declared settled. No final invoice, registration, deduction, return or U.S. tax result is supplied.
Next step
Identify the actual buyer and service, then resolve the applicable statutory/regulatory route before relying on the invoice treatment.
Sources & review notes
Icelandic Parliament (Alþingi)
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Article 12(1), points 2–3: foreign-business services, enumerated exceptions and separate other-recipient track
Sala á þjónustu til atvinnufyrirtækis sem hvorki hefur heimilisfesti hér á landi né stundar hér atvinnustarfsemi frá fastri starfsstöð.
Fresh complete Article12 point2/3 text read with AI-assisted Icelandic interpretation. Outside condition is conjunctive: neither Icelandic domicile nor business from fixed establishment. Point2 vehicle category is hire delivered to lessee in Iceland. Current-hosted Regulation194/1990 now separately recovered; interaction is not resolved by presuming obsolescence or universal certificate absence.
Icelandic Revenue and Customs (Skatturinn)
Passage, dates and research notes
official-guidance · Export-of-services explanation and listed service types
provided that the services are wholly used abroad.
Actual official English page read. Its export-services use/input-credit explanation differs from current parliamentary Article 12. It is retained as an explicit source conflict, not applied as the governing B2B test. The older government translation of Regulation 194/1990 was also read but current consolidated regulation access returned403; the old two-year certificate provision is not published as current.
Iceland Ministry / official regulation publication service
Passage, dates and research notes
regulation · Complete articles1–3; current-version header and conditional certificate
Vottorð þetta gildir í tvö ár frá útgáfudegi
Full3-page native official PDF read; header version9September2022, document8November2026. Article1(a)/(b) alternatives, limb(b) two-year certificate and possible two-year extension retained. Official B-section publication prevails on discrepancy. This is not a determination that broader current VAT Act point2 eliminates or universally imports regulatory procedures.
Alþingi, Parliament of Iceland
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Section 1: new Article 12(1) points 2 and 3; removal of former points 9/10
Við bætast tveir nýir töluliðir
Icelandic primary text read with AI assistance. Enacted section 1 and relevant bill rationale actually read; other kilometre-charge provisions are outside the claim. Bill explanation is legislative context, not a substitute for the enacted Act or a final administrative reconciliation of Regulation 194/1990.
Alþingi, Parliament of Iceland
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · VAT section 2.1 and explanation of section 1
þjónusta sé skattlögð í því ríki þar sem atvinnufyrirtæki er með heimilisfesti eða fasta starfsstöð
Icelandic primary text read with AI assistance. Enacted section 1 and relevant bill rationale actually read; other kilometre-charge provisions are outside the claim. Bill explanation is legislative context, not a substitute for the enacted Act or a final administrative reconciliation of Regulation 194/1990.
Detailed rule records (1)
Current Article 12(1), point 2 excludes covered services sold to a business neither domiciled in Iceland nor conducting business there from a fixed establishment, with specific local-service exceptions. Point 3 has a distinct other-recipient track. Determine the actual customer, establishment and service instead of substituting the older English use/input-credit explanation for today’s B2B rule.
Iceland VAT Act 50/1988: current Alþingi compilation Skatturinn English VAT overview Regulation194/1990: official current PDF through9September2022Keep this reading in your learning library.
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