General information - types of securities, deadlines, other market specifics - Iceland
Types of securities eligible in Clearstream Banking
The eligible securities issued in Iceland are as follows:
Debt securities:
Debt securities eligible in Nasdaq CSD Iceland (NCSD):
- Government bonds;
- Treasury bills;
- Housing Finance Fund debt (HFF);
- Corporate debt securities;
- Corporate money market instruments.
Equities:
- Ordinary shares
Types of beneficial owner
The following types of beneficial owners are recognised for tax purposes in Iceland:
- Residents of a DTT country;
- Non-residents of Iceland;
- Tax-exempt entities;
- Icelandic banks complying with Article 3.2 of Act no 94/1996;
- Icelandic beneficial owners.
Deadlines1
Relief at source
In order to benefit from relief at source on Icelandic securities, eligible beneficial owners will need to ensure that we receive the accurate documentation by the following deadlines:
| Debt securities exempt from non-resident taxationa | |
| Document (Interest) | Deadline |
A one-time certificate for Icelandic Banks complying with Article 3.2 of Act no. 94/1996 | Five business days before the first interest or redemption payment date at 10:00 CET. |
a. Icelandic debt securities, falling under the scope of Article 1 of Act no. 39/2013, Article 1 of Act no. 53/2014 and Article 1 of Act no. 107/2015 are considered as non-taxable for non-resident beneficial owners and are those listed on the RSK exemption list.
| Other debt securities (not exempt from non-resident taxation)a | |
| Document (Interest) | Deadline |
A one-time certificate for Icelandic banks complying with Article 3.2 of Act no. 94/1996 | Five business days before the first coupon/redemption payment date at 10:00 CET. |
a. Debit securities that are not exempt from non-resident taxation are those not listed on the RSK exemption list RSK exemption list.
Statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax
Unless otherwise stipulated in the tax treaty, the statutory deadline for reclaiming withholding tax is six years after the date on which the tax was withheld.
Standard refund deadline
The deadline by which Clearstream Banking must receive the documentation for a standard refund application is at the latest two months before the statutory deadline.
All reclaim applications received after this deadline will be processed by Clearstream Banking on a “best efforts” basis. However, in such cases, Clearstream Banking will apply an extra charge and accepts no responsibility for forms that have not reached the Icelandic tax authorities by the date considered to be the statute of limitations deadline.
When are refunds received?
The estimated time for receiving a refund is on average from 6 to 12 months from the date on which the standard refund application was received by the Icelandic tax authorities. This timeframe can vary depending on when the application was filed and the complexity of the information supplied in the reclaim form.
Notes on tax reclaims
Customers warrant the completeness and accuracy of the information they supply to Clearstream Banking.
It is the customer's responsibility to determine any entitlement to a refund of tax withheld, to complete the forms required correctly and to calculate the amount due. Clearstream Banking is under no obligation to carry out any investigation in respect of such information.
With respect to tax reclaims in general, customers are reminded that Clearstream Banking accepts no responsibility for their acceptance or non-acceptance by the tax authorities of the respective country.
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1. Customers are strongly recommended to verify the deadlines of each event in our tax notifications, as those may be subject to changes upon the request of the issuer.