VAT in Finland made Simple

Q: How much is VAT in Finland?

Finland has three VAT rates: Standard 24%, Reduced 1: 14%, and Reduced 2: 10%.

Q: Is Finland in the EU for VAT purposes?

Yes, Finland is in the EU customs union and follows the EU VAT Directive. However, the Åland Islands are an autonomous region outside the EU VAT area.

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Finland

Currency	Euro (EUR, €)
Languages	Finnish, Swedish, Sámi
Largest Marketplace	Zalando.fi
Most Popular Product Category	Clothing and Footwear
Tax Authority	Verohallinto (Vero) / Skatte förvaltningen (Skatt) / Finnish Tax Administration
VAT Rates	Standard – 24%
	Reduced 1 – 13.5%
	Reduced 2 – 10%

The Åland Islands are an autonomous region of Finland. They are outside the EU VAT area. Goods transported between Åland and mainland Finland or other EU countries are treated as imports or exports for VAT purposes.

Do I need to register for VAT in Finland?

Whether you need to register for VAT in Finland depends on:

Where your business is based
Who your customers are
Where you customers are
Whether you’re selling goods or services
And if you’re selling goods, where your stock is when the purchase is made

Like an answer for your specific situation? The easiest thing to do is to talk to someone. Book a free 15 minute consultation with one of our experts today.

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My B2C business is based outside the EU

Whether you need to register for VAT in Finland depends on where your goods are, and where you’re selling them.

Selling goods on your website

When you sell through a store you own (like a Shopify store), you have more work to do to be VAT compliant.

If you store goods in Finland, you'll need to register for VAT there. You have two options when you’re selling goods stored somewhere else in the EU to customers in Finland:

Which is better for your business will depend on your current set up and plans. Not sure which you need? You can ask us (for free).

Book a call

Importing goods to Finland

Are your goods outside the EU when your customer buys them? You have three options to sell to Finland compliantly:

Register for VAT in Finland
Register for IOSS
Ship your goods to Finland Delivered at Place (DAP)

An IOSS registration allows you to import goods with an intrinsic value of EUR 150 or less to customers all over the EU – not just Finland.

If your average order from Finland has an intrinsic value over EUR 150 registering for VAT might be more efficient.

You can also ship your goods to Finland DAP. Shipping DAP puts the responsibility for Import fees, duties and VAT on your customer. We really only recommend doing this if you have one-off or infrequent high-value sales to Finland. Shipping DAP is generally a worse experience for your customers.

Not sure which is the best option? Talk to us about your business and we’ll help you work it out.

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Get Registered for IOSS, Fast

All ready to start selling to Finland? Don’t wait any longer, start your IOSS registration now. We can get you your IOSS number in as little as three working days.

Get an IOSS number

Selling goods on a marketplace

Since 2021 online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay have been responsible for collecting and remitting the VAT on certain sales on their platforms. Marketplaces are responsible for the VAT when:

You, the seller, are based outside the EU
The sale is B2C
The goods are shipped from outside the EU in shipments with an intrinsic value of EUR 150 or less
Or the goods are in the EU at the point of sale

For example, you’re an Amazon seller based in the USA. Your stock is in your warehouse in Huntington, WV. Your customer in Finland orders a EUR 100 coat from you. Amazon will charge your customer Finnish VAT and remit it to the Finnish Tax Administration.

Storing your goods in an EU country will require you to register for VAT there, even though the marketplace collects and remits the VAT. Orders from Finland with an intrinsic value over EUR 150 will require you register for VAT in Finland or ship it DAP.

Don't let VAT get in the way of Amazon Pan- EU

Getting your goods closer to your European customers means faster delivery. It also means getting registered for VAT. Don’t let that stop you from selling to the 450 million people in the EU – we're here to make it easy.

Make FBA Easy

Selling Digital Services and Digital Goods to Finland

Everything that’s not a physical object is considered a service in the EU. Digital services are a category of services that are defined by being “electronically supplied”. That covers things like eBooks, PDFs of sewing patterns, on-demand video courses and tickets to livestreams. If you’re in Canada or the USA, you’ll probably know these things as “Digital Goods”.

To sell digital services to customers in Finland you can either:

Determining whether your services are “electronically supplied” can be complicated and has big consequences – if they’re not, you don’t need to register for anything. We recommend you talk to an expert if you’re selling digital services just to make sure.

Book a call

My B2C business is based in the EU

This information assumes you’re not based in Finland.

Selling Goods

Being based in the EU, you can make up to 10,000 EUR in sales to other EU countries before you have to register for anything, depending on where your goods are when they’re sold. All registrations require you to charge your Finnish customers their local VAT rate, then report and pay that amount to the tax authorities.

My Goods are in Finland

Storing goods in Finland creates a “taxable supply”. You’ll need to register for VAT in Finland or for One Stop Shop (OSS) in the country where you’re based.

My Goods are in the EU, but not in Finland

Essentially, you have a VAT obligation in every country where you hold stock or have customers. If you hold stock in the country where you’re based you can choose to either register for VAT in Finland, or for OSS. Storing goods in a third country creates another VAT obligation. You can register for VAT there as well or skip the individual registrations and just register for One Stop Shop.

My goods are outside the EU

You have three options when your goods are outside the EU at the point of sale:

Register for VAT in Finland
Register for Import One Stop Shop (IOSS)
Make your customer the Importer of Record
Making your customer the Importer of Record will mean their order gets hold at customs until they’ve paid any duty and VAT due. If they don’t pay in time, the order will get sent back to you.

Selling Services from the EU to Finland

In the EU, anything that’s not a physical object is considered a service. It covers everything from catering services to digital downloads. Selling services to consumers in other EU countries requires you to register for OSS .

You can register for OSS with your local tax authority.

My goods are outside the EU

Feeling Confused? Take the EU VAT Quiz

Find out in less than a minute if you need to register in the EU and what for – IOSS, OSS,
Non-Union OSS or VAT.

Take the Quiz

VAT on Sales to Finnish Businesses

When your customers are other businesses, your VAT obligations change. You might still have to register for VAT (if you store goods in Finland, for example) but in many cases the VAT is your customer’s obligation.

I’m based outside the EU and selling B2B to Finland

When you’re based outside the EU, and your EU customer is VAT registered, the reverse charge mechanism often applies. You include “reverse charge mechanism” on the invoice, and they account for it on their VAT return.

I’m based in the EU and selling B2B to Finland

Generally (but not always), B2B sales between EU states are zero-rated if both you and your customer are VAT registered. Selling to a Finnish business from another EU country doesn’t always mean you have to be VAT registered in Finland.

However, you do have to:

Be VAT registered where you’re based
Add the transaction to your EC Sales List
Verify your buyer’s VAT number on VIES

Finnish B2B VAT made simple

Business-to-business transactions that cross international borders are simple in theory. In practice they’re often complicated. Tax authorities interpret rules differently, documents are issued wrong (or not issued at all), you might be one business in a chain – it gets complicated quick.

Make it easier with some expert advice.

Book a call

How do I register for VAT in Finland?

You need a fiscal representative to register for VAT in Finland if you’re not based in the EU. The Finnish Tax Administration may also require a bank guarantee from non-EU applicants. Along with your application, you’ll need to submit several supporting documents:

A Start-up notification – a form used to notify the Finnish government that you’re starting taxable operations in Finland
A power of attorney, if you’re using a fiscal representative
An extract from the trade register in the country where you’re based, or the equivalent (and a Finnish or Swedish translation)
The articles of association of your business (and a Finnish or Swedish translation), unless you can provide the trade register extract

Finnish VAT Returns

Once you’re registered for VAT in Finland, you have to file a periodic VAT return. How often depends on your annual turnover:

  
        FREQUENCY
        TAXABLE ANNUAL REVENUE
      
        Monthly
        EUR 100,000 or more a year
      
        Quarterly
        EUR 30,000 to EUR 100,000 a year
      
        Half Annually
        EUR 30,000 or less a year

FREQUENCY	TAXABLE ANNUAL REVENUE
Monthly	EUR 100,000 or more a year
Quarterly	EUR 30,000 to EUR 100,000 a year
Half Annually	EUR 30,000 or less a year

The filing and payment deadline for monthly and quarterly filing is the 12th of the second month following the reporting period. For example, your VAT return and payment for June is due on the 12th of August. Annual returns are due on the last working day of February the following year.

If you want to change your filing frequency, you can submit an application to the Finnish Tax Administration. You can only do it if you’ve been filing at your current frequency for at least 12 months.

Intrastat Thresholds Finland

Intrastat is a statistical report used by the EU to collect and analyse data on the movement of goods between EU Member States. You don’t have to file Intrastat reports until you’ve passed a threshold. In Finland, the threshold is EUR 800,000 for both arrivals and dispatches.

Intrastat reports are transactional reports, so if a single transaction contains goods with distinct commodity codes, you’ll have to divide it. They’re a lot of extra work but we can do them for you.

Intrastat Reports Filed for You

VAT Refunds Finland

If you buy something from a Finnish supplier, or import goods into Finland, you’ll be charged input VAT. You can claim input VAT back on your Finnish VAT return. When you have more input VAT than output VAT, you can have the difference refunded or carried forward as credit.

If you have VAT debts or unpaid charges, the refundable amount will instead be used to pay those debts.

Refunds when you’re not VAT registered in Finland

If you’re not registered for VAT in Finland, you can still get a VAT refund. How you do it depends on whether you’re based in the EU or not.

Businesses based in the EU can use their national tax authority’s online portal to use the EU Refund Directive. Once the claim has been processed, the Finnish Tax Administration will refund you the money.

If you’re not based in the EU, you’ll need to use the 13th Directive.

13th Directive Refunds in Finland

The minimum amount you can refund is EUR 400, unless the period you’re claiming for is a year. Then, the minimum drops to EUR 50. You have until the 30th of June the year following the refund period to make your claim. For example, the deadline to refund VAT paid in April 2024 is June 2025.

You don’t need a fiscal representative to apply and businesses from any country may do so.

13th Directive refunds are admin intensive and can take a long time. If you’d like to save time on getting your money back, we can handle them for you.13th Directive refunds are admin intensive and can take a long time. If you’d like to save time on getting your money back, we can handle them for you.

Get a VAT Refund in Finland

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VAT finland FAQs

What is VAT in Finland?

In Finnish, VAT is called Arvonlisävero (ALV).

How much is VAT in Finland?

Finland has three VAT rates:

Standard: 24%
Reduced 1: 13.5%
Reduced 2: 10%

Do I need a fiscal representative in Finland?

If you’re not based in the EU, you’ll need a fiscal representative to register for VAT in Finland.

Is Finland in the EU for VAT purposes?

Finland is in the EU customs union and follows the EU VAT Directive. The Åland Islands are an autonomous, Swedish speaking region of Finland. They are outside the EU VAT area.