9 Capital gain or capital loss, instructions for filling in the form

Always report to the Tax Administration any gains or losses you receive from selling or other transfer of assets, such as exchange of assets. These instructions only refer to sales, but they also apply to other transfers in exchange for consideration.

The instructions describe how to file capital gains and capital losses on paper by using Form 9.

You can also file capital gains and capital losses electronically in MyTax. If you do so, you do not need the paper form. Read the instructions for filing in MyTax. These instructions may also be of assistance.

Form 9 is available for download on our Forms page. The return address is marked on the first page of the form.

Choosing the right form

Report the capital gains on publicly traded shares and on securities and book-entry shares separately either in MyTax or on Form 9A: Capital gains and capital losses from trading with securities.

Use Form 9 when you have sold property, such as

• a real estate unit
• shares in a housing company or real estate company
• shares of a non-listed company (not quoted on the stock exchange)
• an interest in a business partnership, i.e. a general partnership or a limited partnership
• fixed assets relating to forestry
• crypto assets.

However, you can only use this form to report capital gains or capital losses on property located in Finland. If the property is located abroad, fill in Form 16B.

General instructions

Fill in a separate form on each sale. If you acquired the sold assets in several transactions, calculate and report the capital gain and capital loss separately for each transaction.

Always report only the portion of the selling price, acquisition cost, selling costs and profit or loss that corresponds to your own share of ownership. If you have sold property together with your spouse, for example, your spouse must fill in a separate form for their portion.

Report all sales of assets, even if the gain is not taxable income or the loss is not deductible. For example, you can sell your permanent home exempt from tax, and the transfer of assets to the next generation may also be exempted from tax. However, you are still expected to report them. Read more about the taxation of capital gains (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

The Tax Administration receives information on income you gain on digital platforms, both from Finland and from abroad. The Tax Administration also supervises the reporting of these details for tax assessment. Remember to always report this type of income on your pre-completed tax return.

When must a return be submitted?

You can file capital gains and capital losses for your tax card or prepayments in MyTax immediately after the sale. If you do so, you do not need this paper form. However, you can also request a change to your tax card on paper by using Form 5010 (Application for tax card and/or tax prepayment). In that case, enclose this form (Form 9) with your request.

Also, you must add any missing capital gains and losses when you check your pre-completed tax return. If information is missing or is inaccurate, report the information in MyTax or on this form.

Also use this form if you make a claim for adjustment after the tax assessment process has finished. Fill in a claim for adjustment and enclose this form. You can also submit the claim for adjustment in MyTax.

If you use the paper form, fill in all the fields even if you only wish to correct an individual entry.

Selling your permanent home

Selling your permanent home is exempt from tax if certain conditions are met. This is discussed above in section 3 of these instructions.

Small-scale selling

If you have sold assets for no more than €1,000 during the tax year, no tax is imposed on gains, and losses are not necessarily deductible:

• Capital gain is not taxable income if the total selling price of the assets does not exceed €1,000.
• Capital loss cannot be deducted if the total acquisition cost of the assets you sold during the tax year is no more than €1,000 and if the total selling prices are no more than €1,000.

Such sales of property that have been separately prescribed as tax-exempt (e.g. selling your own permanent home) are not included in the €1,000 threshold. In addition, sales of household effects or other such property intended for personal use are not included.

Ordinary household effects

Profit derived from selling ordinary household effects is not taxable income if the total profit for the tax year is no more than €5,000. The ordinary household effects do not include cars, boats, valuable jewellery, works of art or other investment assets.

Crypto assets

Report any gains or losses from the exchange or use of crypto assets in MyTax or on paper (section 2 of Form 9).

You can use the Tax Administration’s FIFO calculator to calculate your profit from crypto assets. The calculator utilises the FIFO principle (First In – First Out). This means that crypto assets are considered to be spent in the order in which they were acquired.

Further instructions on how to file income from crypto assets

Read more about the taxation of capital gains (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)

Sales and other transfers of property made by nonresident taxpayers

If you are a nonresident individual living outside Finland, report any capital gains or losses from the sale of real estate located in Finland, and from the sale of an apartment, i.e. shares in a Finnish housing company, or real estate company, in MyTax or on paper (Form 9).  Any other capital gains or losses resulting from indirect transfer of immovable property must be reported as well: for example, the capital gains resulting from your selling a foreign company's shares when the company is the owner of immovable property located in Finland and the immovable property accounts for more than half of the company’s total assets. In that case, select property type "Other property”, write "Indirect ownership” in the description field and enter the name of the foreign company and the name and identifiers of the Finnish real estate or apartment. 

Contents:

1 Taxpayer identification and the tax year
2 The sold (transferred) asset
3 Sale/transfer of permanent home
4 Calculation of the capital gain or capital loss

1 Taxpayer identification and the tax year

Enter your name and personal identity code, or the company’s name and Business ID.

Also enter the tax year, i.e. the year during which you sold assets.

2 The sold (transferred) asset

Tick the appropriate box to indicate the property type: Real estate, Shares in a residential housing company or real estate company, Shares in a non-listed company, Share in a general partnership or limited partnership, Crypto assets, or Other. Also report more detailed information on the property, such as the name and Business ID of the housing company, the apartment number, the name and property identifier of the real estate unit, or the name of the crypto assets. If the property type you selected is Other, specify the assets you sold.

Also fill in the following sections:

• Selling date: the date on which a binding and final deed of sale or other agreement of sale was made (signed)
• Purchase date: this is the date when you yourself had acquired the property now sold. If the way you received an apartment was through inheritance, the deceased person's date of death should be entered as the purchase date. Correspondingly, if you received property as a gift, enter the date when the gift was given you
• Fractional share or Percentage share that was sold: share of the property you sold as a fraction or a percentage. For example, if you and your spouse own equal shares of the apartment and you sell your share, enter here 1⁄2 or 50%.
• Buyer's (other recipient’s) personal identity code or Business ID: enter here the personal ID or Business ID of the buyer or other recipient. If the buyer or other recipient is non-Finnish and does not have a Finnish personal identity code or a Finnish Business ID, enter here their date of birth.
• Buyer’s (other recipient’s) name.

Also report other required information:

• Tick the appropriate box if you yourself received the property as a gift or inheritance. Also state the name and the personal identity code or Business ID of the deceased person or donor. If the deceased person or donor is non-Finnish and does not have a Finnish personal identity code or a Finnish Business ID, enter the date of birth of the deceased person or donor.
• If the transfer is part of a transfer of a farm or other business to the next generation, tick the appropriate box. In section 5 (Additional information) of the form, tick Other tax-exempt transfer or Non-deductible capital loss.
• Also specify the family relationship between you and the recipient.
• If you have transferred a real estate unit to the State or a State enterprise for use as a nature reserve as referred to in the Nature Conservation Act, tick the box. In section 5 (Additional information) of the form, tick Other tax-exempt transfer.

3 Sale/transfer of permanent home

Gain from selling your own home is not taxable income if the following conditions are met:

• You owned the house or apartment for at least 2 years.
• During your period of ownership, the house or apartment was your or your family's permanent home for at least 2 consecutive years. “Family” here refers to your spouse and children under 18. Read more about the definition of spouse in taxation.

The site (ground) on which the sold building stands can also be sold exempt from tax if its area is no more than 10,000 square metres or if it is located in a planned area and is not larger than a plot or construction site according to the plan.

Fill in the following information in this section of the form:

• the period during which the building or apartment was your or your family’s permanent home
• total area of the building or apartment
• the part of the total area that formed your or your family’s permanent home
• area of the site (ground) if the sold property is a real estate unit.

You do not need to fill in section 4 of the form (Calculation of the capital gain or capital loss) if the property you sold was your permanent home and the conditions for tax exemption are met.

Read more about the taxation of selling your home

4 Calculation of the capital gain or capital loss

Capital gain or capital loss is calculated based on the acquisition cost and the selling price. As the acquisition cost, you can use either the actual expenses, i.e. the purchase price and the selling expenses, or the deemed acquisition cost, which is based on the period of ownership. Enter the acquisition cost according to the actual expenses in the left-hand column of section 4 or the deemed acquisition cost in the right-hand column of section 4. Only report information about your share of ownership.

Convert Finnish marks into euros by using the conversion rate 5.94573.

4.1 Selling price: Report the price you received from selling the property.
You can deduct either the total of the actual acquisition price and the amount of expenses from the selling price (sections 4.2–4.7) or the deemed acquisition cost (section 4.8), whichever is higher.

4.2 Acquisition price or undepreciated acquisition cost or taxable value for purposes of inheritance or gift taxes: Enter the acquisition cost of the sold property, such as the purchase price.

If you have deducted depreciation on the acquisition cost during your period of ownership, enter here the acquisition cost minus the depreciation. For example, depreciation on the acquisition cost of a rented building may have been deducted from rental income before the sale of the building.

If you received the sold property as inheritance or as a gift, report here the tax value established for purposes of inheritance or gift taxation. You can find the value in the inheritance or gift tax decision. In the case of a transfer of assets to the next generation, i.e. if you have received a farm, other business or part of a farm or business as inheritance or a gift, the acquisition cost is the tax value with relief. You can check the tax value from the Tax Administration, if needed.

However, if after receiving the gift you sold the gifted assets or property before one year had elapsed, enter the donor’s acquisition cost here, i.e. enter the amount that the donor could have deducted as an acquisition cost in the donor's tax assessment. Ask the donor to inform you of the amount.

4.3 Amount of housing company loans paid back during your holding time: If you report the sale of a housing company share, enter here the amount of a company loan placed in reserve that you have paid to the housing company. A capital expenditure charge that the shareholder has paid to the company increases the acquisition cost of the shares if the charge is allocated to the acquisition or improvement of the company's assets or the redemption of a rented plot or part thereof and if the company places the charges in reserves in its accounting. If the company recognises the capital expenditure charge as revenue in its accounting, it cannot usually be added to the acquisition cost of the housing company shares for the shareholder. If you do not know whether the company has placed the charges in reserve or recognised them as revenue, you can check it with the building manager. Read more about the acquisition cost of housing company shares (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

Maintenance charges or charges deducted from rental income cannot be added to the acquisition cost.

4.4 Transfer tax: Report the transfer tax you paid as you acquired the property.

4.5 Expenses related to the acquisition: Report any other expenses directly attributable to the acquisition of property, such as brokerage, inspection, evaluation and legal fees you paid in connection with the purchase.

4.6 Renovation and improvement costs: Report the costs for major improvements you have made to an apartment, for example, during your period of ownership. Major improvements include, for example, raising the standard of equipment for an apartment or building, or raising the standard of construction materials. Also report costs for annual repairs attributable to the fact that the property was renovated for selling.

If you have deducted expenses from rental income in the form of annual depreciation, for example, you cannot deduct them again as you sell the property. You can deduct only the portion you have not deducted previously.

4.7 Expenses related to the selling: Report the costs arising from the selling of the property and any other expenses you incurred in making a profit. Such expenses may arise, for example, from a condition check performed for purposes of selling, from a brokerage fee and from the acquisition of required documents, such as a building manager's certificate or a certificate of title registration.

Maintenance charges or charges deducted from rental income cannot be treated as selling expenses. However, maintenance charges paid for repairs made when the apartment is for sale or for the purpose of facilitating the sale can exceptionally be regarded as tax-deductible expenses for profit-making. A condition for the above is that the apartment was unoccupied during that time.

4.8 Deemed acquisition cost: If you calculate the capital gain using the deemed acquisition cost, enter the deemed acquisition cost here. The deemed acquisition cost is 20% or 40% of the selling price. The percentage is determined by how long you have held the property before selling it. The deemed acquisition cost is 20% of the selling price if you have held the property for less than 10 years. If you have held the property for 10 years or more, the deemed acquisition cost is 40% of the selling price.

If you sold or transferred immovable property to the State of Finland, to a wellbeing services county or joint authority for wellbeing services, to the Province of Åland, to a municipality or to a joint municipal authority, the deemed acquisition cost is 80% of the selling price. In this case, it is irrelevant how long you have held the property before selling. Read more about transferring property to State enterprises (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

If you are also reporting items to be added to the selling price (see section 4.11), add them to the selling price before calculating the deemed acquisition cost.

In the case of a foreign death estate, calculations cannot be based on a deemed acquisition cost of the sold property.

4.9 and 4.10: Capital gain and capital loss: Calculate the capital gain or capital loss:

Deduct the acquisition price and any expenses, i.e. the amounts entered in sections 4.2–4.7, from the selling price, i.e. the amount entered in section 4.1. If you use the deemed acquisition cost, i.e. the amount entered in section 4.8, subtract it from the selling price given in section 4.1. In that case, you cannot deduct expenses.

• If you also report items to be added to the selling price or acquisition price in section 4.11 or 4.12, add them to the selling price or acquisition price before calculating the capital gain or capital loss. Also read the section “Amounts to be added” of these instructions (sections 4.11– 4.13 of the form).
• Enter the capital gain in section 4.9 or the capital loss in section 4.10.

Amounts to be added

In some cases, amounts must be added to the selling price, acquisition price, or capital gain or loss. The items to be added will be entered in sections 4.11–4.13.

4.11 Amounts to be added to the selling price: Fill in this section if you have received indemnity for damage caused to the sold property during the year of sale or the preceding five years. Report the part of the damages that you have not used for repairing or renovating the damaged property. Read more about damages to be added to the selling price (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

4.12 Amounts to be added to the acquisition price: Report any items to be added to the acquisition price. For example, if you have sold your interest in a general or limited partnership, you can add your private account’s positive balance to the acquisition price. Read more about selling an interest in a partnership (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

4.13 Amounts to be added to the capital gain/loss: Report any items to be added to the capital gain or capital loss. If you have sold forest property, add the part of the forest deduction that corresponds to a maximum of 60% of the acquisition price of the sold forest to the capital gain or capital loss.

If you have sold your interest in a general or limited partnership, add your private account’s negative balance to the capital gain or capital loss, i.e. the amount by which the partner's total private withdrawals have exceeded the total amount of their profit shares and investments in the partnership. Read more about selling an interest in a partnership (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

5 More information about the sale or transfer: Fill in this section if necessary, i.e. if any of the following situations apply:

• you have received an advance ruling on the sale from the Tax Administration and request that it should be applied
• the sale of property has generated a non-deductible capital loss
• you have sold or transferred property exempt from tax; for example, you have transferred assets to the next generation or transferred a real estate unit for use as a nature reserve.

Tick the box that matches the sale or transfer you have made.

Date and sign the form. Also provide your daytime telephone number.