Coming to work for a Finnish employer
If you work for a Finnish employer, you are usually liable to pay Finnish taxes on your pay. If your employer operates business in Finland and has a permanent establishment in Finland, they are treated as a Finnish employer even if they were from outside Finland.
Your taxation may be different if you are
Your taxation depends on how long you stay in Finland.
If you stay in Finland for no longer than 6 months, you are considered a non-resident taxpayer. This normally means that you must pay tax at source on the income you receive from Finnish sources.
If your employer is Finnish or has a permanent establishment in Finland, tax is withheld at source on income that you receive for the work you do in Finland. The tax at source is usually 35%. If your country of residence is an EU country, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein or a country that has a tax treaty with Finland, you can ask to be taxed progressively.
See further instructions if you will be working in construction.
APPLY FOR A TAX-AT-SOURCE CARD
The tax card may include a deduction for tax at source: €510 per month or €17 per day. When you have a tax-at-source card, your employer can make the deduction from your income before the tax is withheld.
Give the original copy of the tax card to your employer. The tax at source is a final tax. You do not need to file a tax return to the Finnish Tax Administration.
Example: If you are paid €2,000 per month and you have no tax-at-source card, the tax is 35% or €700. If your employer has received a tax-at-source card from you with instructions for giving you a tax-at-source deduction, the tax is €521.50 (= (€2,000 – €510) × 35%). Remember that your gross taxable pay includes fringe benefits (such as free meals, room and board, etc.) as well as your wages.
PRESENT YOUR A1 CERTIFICATE
You can get an A1 certificate from your country if you are coming from another EU or EEA state, Great Britain or Switzerland. A1 is a certificate on social insurance coverage issued by the authorities in your home country.
If you have an A1 certificate, you do not need to pay any insurance contributions.
If you do not have an A1 certificate:
- Your employer withholds mandatory pension insurance and unemployment insurance contributions from your pay and remits them to insurance companies.
- If you are covered by the Finnish health insurance scheme based on your work, your employer will also withhold a health insurance contribution from your pay (health care contribution and daily allowance contribution). Read more about health insurance contributions for individuals coming to work in Finland.
For more information, see
- Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK)
- Employment Fund
- your pension insurance company.
REPORT YOUR FINNISH-SOURCED INCOME IN YOUR HOME COUNTRY
Your home country usually has the right to tax the income you receive from other countries. Remember to report the income that you receive from Finland to your home country’s tax authorities.
Your employer gives you a pay slip that shows the amounts paid to you and the taxes withheld on them at source. You may need to show the pay slip to the tax authorities of your home country. If your country imposes a tax on foreign-sourced income, it will also remove any double taxation on it.
If you come to Finland temporarily but stay for longer than 6 months, you are treated as a resident taxpayer. This means that you will usually have to pay tax to Finland on all the income you receive. However, your home country and Finland may have signed a tax treaty that prohibits Finland from taxing the income you receive from outside Finland.
If you have a Finnish employer, your tax depends on your annual gross income according to a progressive scale. You will need a Finnish personal ID and a tax card.
See further instructions if you will be working in construction.
If you already have a Finnish personal identity code, you can just move on to stage 2.
APPLY FOR A FINNISH PERSONAL ID
You must visit a tax office to sign the form after you have filled it in. Read more about the documents you need to bring along and about booking an appointment at the local tax office.
APPLY FOR A TAX CARD AND PRESENT THE CARD TO YOUR EMPLOYER
Send the completed form back to the Tax Administration. The postal address is on the front page.
If you have a Finnish personal identity code already, you need not visit a tax office in person. You can simply send us the application form for a tax card.
If you come from another EU country, an EEA country, from the United Kingdom or from Switzerland, the authorities of your country may provide you with an A1 certificate. A1 is a certificate on social insurance coverage, proving that you carry social insurance in your home country. Enclose your A1 certificate with the application form.
You will receive your tax card by letter. Give the card to your employer. Based on the information stated on your tax card, your employer will withhold tax on your pay.
You can use the tax percentage calculator to estimate your withholding rate.
Remember to file a Finnish tax return
Normally, you will not have to report income that you have received
- before you moved to Finland
- after you moved out from Finland.
This income is normally not taxed in Finland. However, if you receive income that is connected to your work in Finland (such as stock option benefits), this income is normally subject to Finnish tax.
You must file a Finnish tax return if you stay in Finland for longer than 6 months. The Finnish Tax Administration will send you a pre-completed tax return form in the spring following the year when you worked in Finland. Check the information printed on the pre-completed tax return form.
If all the information on the pre-completed tax return is correct, you do not need to do anything. You have received your final assessment decision as an enclosure to the tax return form.
If the pre-completed tax return does not have your income information or some information is missing, make the necessary corrections in MyTax or on paper forms. You must also include all income that you received from foreign sources during your stay in Finland.
The pre-completed tax return – making corrections in MyTax or on paper
You will receive a new tax decision in the autumn with the final amounts of taxes. If you have paid too little, you will be given instructions on how to pay back taxes. If you are not satisfied with the tax decision, instructions for appeal are enclosed with it.
If you do not receive a pre-completed tax return, you must file a return at your own initiative in MyTax or on paper forms.
Coming to a construction site or a shipyard
Employer: Guidance on how to help your construction workers with their tax matters before they start working.
Key terms: