VSK number in Iceland: when you need one and how to get it

Kassify · 6 November 2026

You get a VSK number, Iceland's VAT number, when the company is registered on the VAT register at Skatturinn. The registration is filed on form RSK 5.02 on Skatturinn's service site, no later than eight days before the business starts, and it becomes mandatory once it is clear that sales of taxable goods or services will reach 2.000.000 kr. excluding VAT in a twelve-month period.

The Director of Internal Revenue assigns the number and sends a confirmation. This article covers who needs the number, how to apply, where it must appear, how to look one up and what happens if you sell without one.

VSK number and kennitala

A VSK number, in full virðisaukaskattsnúmer, is a company's registration number on the VAT register. With it the company may charge VAT on its sales and deduct input VAT in its VAT returns. The number belongs to one kennitala but is not the kennitala itself.

A company's kennitala has ten digits. The VSK number is shorter, often five or six digits, and both show on the company's page in Skatturinn's company register.

VAT itself, the 24% and 11% rates and what is exempt, is covered in the article on VAT in Iceland.

Who needs a VSK number

Anyone who sells taxable goods or services in the course of business must be on the VAT register. The exception is small turnover: someone who sells 2.000.000 kr. or less in every twelve-month period from the start of the business does not have to register. The duty to register arises once it is clear that sales excluding VAT will reach 2.000.000 kr. in a twelve-month period, which is not the calendar year.

It is the sales that decide registration, not the legal form. An ehf. that sells only exempt services stays off the register, while a sole trader on their own kennitala who sells above the threshold must register.

When to register

Registration must be filed no later than eight days before the business starts. A business is counted as starting when costs begin to arise for it, not when the first invoice goes out. A company that buys equipment in December and makes its first sale in January starts in December.

Changes after registration, such as a new business address or a new type of sale, are reported within eight days of the change.

A worked example in krónur

A sole trader with steady sales. Assume a designer working as a sole trader who starts on 1 February and sells services for 180.000 kr. a month excluding VAT. Over twelve months that is 2.160.000 kr., above the threshold, and that is clear from the first day. So the designer registers before the first invoice goes out. Then 24% VAT is added to the price: an invoice of 180.000 kr. becomes 223.200 kr., and 43.200 kr. of it is output VAT the designer pays to the state.

A new ehf. with costs before revenue. Assume a private limited company that buys computers and equipment for 1.000.000 kr. plus 240.000 kr. VAT before it sells anything.

The difference is 240.000 kr. A company that is not registered only gets that VAT back if Skatturinn accepts a backdated registration, which it does in certain cases and with the earlier returns filed on paper.

How to apply for a VSK number

1. 1
   The company's kennitala

   A private limited company gets a kennitala when it is entered in the company register, and a sole trader registers on their own kennitala. Founding the company is covered in the article on how to start an ehf.

2. 2
   Sign in to Skatturinn's service site

   With electronic ID or a web key. A company uses its main web key, which can be sent to its online bank, by post or collected at a Skatturinn office.

3. 3
   File RSK 5.02

   The same notification covers the VAT register and the employer register, and both are ticked when the company pays wages. A paper version also exists, and a copy of the signed form goes to skatturinn@skatturinn.is.

4. 4
   Estimate the first 12 months

   Estimated revenue and costs for the first twelve months go with the notification. If costs are higher than revenue, a business plan is needed, because registration rests on revenue from taxable sales normally exceeding the cost of inputs.

5. 5
   Confirmation and VSK number

   The Director of Internal Revenue rules on the registration, assigns the VSK number and sends a confirmation. Skatturinn publishes no processing time, so the eight-day deadline is a minimum.

What goes on RSK 5.02

Skatturinn calls section C especially important and asks for every piece of information requested.

The employer register alongside it

A business that goes on the VAT register should as a rule also go on the employer register (launagreiðendaskrá), on the same notification and with the same deadline, at least eight days before the business starts. An employer withholds tax (staðgreiðsla) from employees' wages and from the owner's own calculated remuneration.

Withholding tax and the social security tax are settled monthly. The due date is the 1st of the month after the pay month and the final due date is the 15th. A return (skilagrein) is filed even in a month with no wages, or the withholding is estimated.

Where the VSK number must appear

Regulation no. 50/1993, article 4, says a sales invoice carries the seller's name, kennitala and registration number, which is the VSK number. Invoices are numbered in an unbroken sequence, and each one also shows:

• The date of issue.
• The buyer's name and kennitala.
• A description of what was sold, clear enough to show whether the purchase concerns the buyer's taxable activity.
• Quantity, unit price and total price.
• Whether VAT is included in the price and the amount of VAT.

A business that is not on the VAT register may not issue an invoice with VAT. If it states VAT on an invoice anyway, it must pay that tax to the state.

How to look up a VSK number

The search in Skatturinn's company register covers the company register, the annual accounts register and the VAT register. You search by name, address, kennitala or VSK number, and each company's page shows its VSK number, the registration date and the deregistration date if there is one.

The search matters to the buyer. Input VAT can only be deducted if the seller was on the VAT register when the transaction took place, and VAT on an invoice issued after the seller's number was deregistered can be neither deducted nor refunded.

Skatturinn also publishes warning numbers (vánúmer): VSK numbers the Director of Internal Revenue has struck off the register, for example when VAT has been estimated for two or more periods or assessed VAT is unpaid.

If you sell without a VSK number

The Director of Internal Revenue places on the VAT register anyone who is required to register and has not, under article 3 of regulation no. 515/1996. Three things follow:

• Buyers get no input VAT on invoices from a time when the seller was not registered.
• VAT stated on an invoice is paid to the state, whether the seller was registered or not.
• If the registration is backdated, returns for past periods are filed on paper, on RSK 10.01, because electronic filing is not open for past periods.

Deregistration

The end of a business is reported on RSK 5.04. Regulation no. 515/1996, article 8, sets the deadline at eight days after the business ends, but Skatturinn asks for the notice eight days before, so the safest course is to send it in advance. Stock, machinery, equipment and other business assets then count as taxable turnover in the final period, as a rule at market value.

If the business is sold, the notice includes the value of stock, property and business assets, the buyer's name and kennitala, and the purchase agreement.

Deadlines and forms

When the first VAT return is due depends on the filing period. Private limited companies always start on two-month returns, and the due dates are in the article on VAT returns.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for the first revenue. The business starts when costs begin, and the eight-day deadline runs from then.
• VAT on an invoice without a VSK number. Skatturinn collects the VAT anyway and the buyer cannot use it.
• No VSK number on the invoice. Regulation no. 50/1993 requires the seller's name, kennitala and VSK number on every sales invoice.
• No return for a period without sales. A return is filed for every period, also when turnover is zero, or it is estimated.
• Buying from a seller who is not registered. The input VAT is lost. The company register search shows whether the seller is registered.
• Forgetting the employer register. An ehf. owner who works in the business takes calculated remuneration, and the withholding on it goes through the employer register.

Kassify handles VAT from the first period

Once the VSK number is in place, the work that comes with it begins. Every transaction needs the right rate, every input VAT claim needs a receipt and the VAT return goes to Skatturinn every two months. Kassify is an accounting firm that runs on AI, and it takes this work off your plate.

• Every transaction gets the right VAT treatment, 24%, 11% or exempt, and input VAT is only claimed with a receipt behind it.
• The VAT return is prepared from the books and filed before the due date. You see the amount first, and the payment stays in your hands in your online bank.
• Each bank is connected directly and transactions are booked without anything typed in. Sales invoices carry VAT on every line, Icelandic invoice numbering and kennitala.
• Payroll, withholding tax and pension returns are included.
• One fixed monthly price for bookkeeping, payroll, VAT returns, the app, the annual accounts and the tax return, 20% below a traditional accounting firm. The price is given in writing beforehand.
• A bookkeeper replies within 24 hours. Accredited bookkeepers and certified auditors stand behind the work.

A business that is already trading moves to Kassify in less than 7 days, and the move is included in the price. Kassify talks to the old bookkeeper and brings the history with it. If returns are behind, Kassify files what is missing and sends Skatturinn the corrections. More on VAT returns at Kassify.

Questions

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