From Iceland – Get your copy – Child Benefit Edition

A Utlendingurs ongoing guide to getting shit done

When was the last time I wrote this ongoing series of (hopefully) informative and helpful articles about dealing with Icelandic bureaucracy, society or just life in general – hey, those who can’t do, teach, love? — I talked about housing benefit.

More specifically, I was inspired by statistical findings discussed in Alþingi in August, which showed that the average Icelandic citizen receives significantly more from the system in the form of housing benefits, child benefits, unemployment benefits and other payments from various social services than the average immigrant. I may have referenced the Icelandic welfare queens, dominoes and the Útvarp saga back then, but it was all just to let my Útlendingur colleagues know that the benefits you deserve are waiting for you – go get them , what belongs to you.

This also applies to child benefit. And they’re even easier to get than housing benefit, so this is less of a “how-to” and more of a “good to know.”

Child benefit or barnabætur are maintenance payments that parents or guardians of dependent children under 18 receive at regular intervals throughout the year to offset the costs of having children in this incredibly expensive country.

What is “good to know”: Child benefit is paid to eligible people who are Icelandic citizens, people who are full-time residents of Iceland, or people who stay in Iceland for a total of more than 183 days within a 12-month period. Whether and how much a parent or legal guardian receives child benefit depends on the income stated in the previous year’s tax return.

Child benefit is paid quarterly, on February 1st, May, June and October. You won’t receive it the same year your child is born, but should see a deposit in your bank account from February of the calendar year following the child’s birth.

To be eligible, you must be the child supporter, meaning the child is registered with you. Benefits are divided equally between married parents and between separated parents if the child in question has a shared residence. The benefit goes entirely to a single parent with whom the child resides.

Calculate

A single parent is entitled to up to 489,000 ISK per dependent child per year, plus a supplement of 130,000 ISK for each child under seven years of age. Parents who are married or in a civil partnership could receive up to 328,000 ISK per dependent child, plus the same supplement for children under seven years of age. These amounts decrease the higher the income of the legal guardian.

So a single parent earning 5.5 million crowns per year should receive ISK 122,250 in child benefit every quarter, or the full ISK 489,000 this year. However, a single parent earning 12 million crowns per year could expect to receive 57,250 ISK per quarter, and a single parent earning 17,725,000 ISK or more per year will receive nothing.

The Icelandic Tax and Customs Office (Skatturinn) has a handy online calculator that you can use to estimate how much child benefit you may be entitled to based on your income. It’s only available in Icelandic, but a quick search for “Reiknivél barnabóta” will take you to a page where you can enter your marital status (choose between married/cohabitant or single parent), your annual income and the number of children under 18 depend on you and how many of them are under seven years old.

When the first day of a payment month approaches and you’re wondering how much has shown up in your home bank, call the good people at Skatturinn to get to the bottom of the matter.

Nota bene

Needless to say, but don’t have kids because Barnabætur is so sexy – housing, clothing, feeding, and entertaining a child costs a hell of a lot more than 489,000 ISK a year.

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