1. VAT in Europe
3. VAT in Finland
5. VAT returns in Finland

VAT returns in Finland

Frequency of VAT Returns in Finland

The frequency of filing of the periodic VAT returns depends on the annual turnover (net sales). If your business has just registered for VAT, the standard reporting period applicable will be one calendar month. However, businesses with low amount of sales may apply for its extension to the calendar quarter or the calendar year:

• Monthly
   Standard reporting period
• Quarterly
  Net turnover is less than EUR 100,000 a year.
• Annual
  Net turnover is less than EUR 30,000 a year.

If you apply for a change on the reporting period, the Tax Administration will send you an acknowledgement of the changed tax period enclosed with information on the start date of the new tax period. Therefore, you must file all your VAT returns and make the payments under your previous reporting period before you get the acknowledgement letter.

In case your company is benefitting from quarterly or annual reporting periods but you exceed the relevant turnover thresholds, you must inform the tax office at the earlier possibility.

Due Date of Finnish VAT Returns

The VAT return deadlines applicable in Finland depend on the reporting frequency:

• Monthly and quarterly
  By the 12th day of the second following month.
• Annual
  By the end of February the following year.

If the 12th falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the due date is extended to the next business day.

Find here more information about the applicable deadlines, under the section When to file and pay.

VAT Payments in Finland

Non-established companies will often make payments from an overseas account.

When paying taxes, use the Tax Administration’s bank account number and your personal reference number for the tax in question. The reference number allocates your payment to the correct tax.

You can find the bank account number, the reference number, the amount payable and the due date for payment in MyTax or on your tax decision. Also, the VAT certificate of the company usually contains the tax authorities’ bank account.

If you need the full address for making the VAT payment, you shall use the following:

Verohallinto — Finnish Tax Administration
Vääksyntie 4
00510 Helsinki
Finland

Have a look here at the information about how to pay taxes from abroad in Finland. Also, check here general instructions for VAT payments.

VAT Refunds in Finland

The excess of input VAT is automatically and immediately refunded to the taxpayer. This is, when a taxable person declares more VAT deductible – e.g., due to purchases-, than VAT collected from sales, the difference is a VAT credit which shall be reimbursed to the taxpayer.

After the Tax Administration has processed a VAT refund claim, the taxpayer should receive the refund in its bank account in a week period. The Tax Administration sends the refund to the bank account number that you have given to the Tax Administration. VAT refunds below EUR 10 are not reimbursed.

In order to correctly receive the VAT refund, it is important that the tax authorities have the righ information about the taxpayer’s bank account. If you do not submit your bank account number on time, the Tax Administration will send the VAT refund as a money order through the Nordea bank. You can receive a money order only to a Finnish postal address.

Check here more details about VAT refunds of taxes. Also, refer to instructions on How to change bank account details in MyTax, and the Bank account notice form – non-IBAN.

Nil and Corrective VAT Returns in Finland

A nil VAT return needs to be submitted even if there are no transactions to be reported for that period. 

Errors or omissions in a VAT return must be corrected, even if they do not impact on the VAT position for the corresponding period. You will need to submit a corrective or replacement return. The corrective VAT return replaces the previous return submitted for the same period in full. This means that the replacement return must include all details that were already correct in the original return as well as the corrected details. Additionally, if there is additional output VAT to be paid as a result of the correction, you should do it. When submitting a corrective VAT return you need to indicate the reason for the correction among the list of options available.

Alternatively, if the VAT amount impacted by the correction does not exceed EUR 500 per reporting period, no corrective return is necessary. In such scenario, you can correct the VAT amount directly by including it on the following VAT return. This alternative method cannot be used if the error to be corrected does not impact the VAT amount.

When submitting a corrective VAT return, penalties may apply. If you file it within 45 days from the original return’s filing deadline, no penalties for late submission will apply.

In any case, the general deadline to make corrections on previous reporting periods is 3 years calculated from the accounting period or tax year which the tax concerns.

Find here the official instructions about making corrections to VAT returns.

VAT Penalties in Finland

• Cause
  Penalty
• Late or missing filing
  Usually, the tax administration will send a reminder letter to the taxpayer. If no return is submitted, the Tax Administration estimates your company’s VAT and imposes a penalty. If you submit the missing VAT return, the assessment is cancelled. Penalties are calculated as follows:

  Up to 45 days late: The late-filing penalty is EUR 3/day up to a maximum amount of EUR 135.

  More than 45 days late:  The late-filing penalty is EUR 135 + 2% of the amount of the tax filed late. The maximum amount of penalty is EUR 15,000 for each tax.

  Corrective returns: You will have to pay a late-filing penalty amounting to 2% of the payable amount of tax filed late, but no more than €15,000 per tax type.

• Late payment
  If you pay your VAT after the due date, you must pay late-payment interest. VAT starts collecting interest on the day after the due date. Interest collection stops on the day when you make the payment. For 2023, the rate of interest is 7%.
• Late registration
  There is no specific penalty for late registration. However, late submission penalties will apply when regularizing past reporting periods.

Find here the official information about late submission and payment. Also, find here information about late filing penalty in Finland. There is an interest calculator available.

Finnish Tax Authorities Contact

• Tax service for businesses: +358 29 497 051

Intrastat returns

Mon–Fri 9 am–12 am

Email address: intrastat@tulli.fi

Phone : +358 295 52 334

Customs contact

• Email address statistics: statistics@tulli.fi  
• Email address payment transactions: veroreskontra@tulli.fi   
• Phone: +358 295 5202
• Check the following link.