Transfer tax return (Form 6012e), Instructions for filling out the form
Several changes to the legal act on transfer taxes came into force 1 Jan 2024. If the date when you signed the contract of purchase or other transfer agreement concerning property was 12 October 2023 or later, the new rates are applied. First-time homebuyers are no longer exempt from transfer tax as of 1 Jan 2024. However, if the contract was signed before 1 Jan 2024, the exemption can still be granted. Read more about the changes.
File a transfer tax return when you have become the owner of:
- A unit of real estate, parcel of land, designated share or leasehold right
- Shares in a housing company or in a mutual real estate holding company
- Other securities (not stock-exchange-listed)
- A building without the land on which it is located
This form is primarily designed for individual taxpayers, but it can be used by general partnerships, limited partnerships and auctioneers that have had the obligation to collect transfer tax from the buyer.
Individual taxpayers, general partnerships and limited partnerships can file a transfer tax return either in MyTax or on paper. Corporate entities such as limited liability companies can only file a transfer tax return in MyTax.
Every buyer must submit a transfer tax returnfor their parts of the purchase
If you acquired any asset or property together with another buyer, you are required to report only the part of it that has become yours. The other buyers must submit transfer tax returns for their parts of the purchase.
If you acquired several assets, you must fill out separate transfer tax returns to show each asset separately. Divide the price you paid as it has been agreed in the contract if the several assets that you bought were sold to you with just one contract. Alternatively, if the contract does not specify what part of the total price is for what asset, you must enter the total price in one of the transfer tax return forms and enter zero in the other return forms.
If the buyer is a non-resident taxpayer (from a foreign country, for example) and you are obliged to collect tax on the sale in question, you must file a transfer tax return on the tax you collected from the buyer, and then pay the amount on to the Tax Administration. Examples of circumstances where you may be obliged to collect tax include a situation where you sell shares of a Finnish business company (corporate stock) to a buyer who is a nonresident. In case there are several sellers, you must only submit a transfer tax return and pay transfer tax for the part that you yourself had collected from the nonresident buyer. In the same way, you must only report your portion of the price and other compensation.
Tick the box for:
- Transfer tax return if you are submitting information on the transfer for the first time.
- Replacement transfer tax return if you need to make corrections to the information you had submitted previously. In this case, you must correct the mistakes and also complete the other spaces on the form.
What enclosures are needed?
Enclose a photocopy of the contract of purchase or other contract. If the property only consists of a real estate unit, designated share, parcel of land or lease right, you do not have to enclose the contract.
If you acquired “new property” – construction is ongoing or just finished of the house or apartment, you must also enclose documentation on the right of ownership that indicates the date when you have become the new owner. An example of such documentation is a photocopy of a letter from the builder-developer or a photocopy of the receipt proving the payment of the final instalment.
If you do not have a Finnish personal identity code, enclose a photocopy of your passport. If you are a first-time homebuyer, you must also enclose a photocopy of your residence permit.
If the buyer is a foreign corporate entity, an excerpt from the trade register of the foreign country, etc. or other similar document for registration is required.
Deadlines for the transfer tax return and the tax
After you have signed the deed of sale or other contract, submit the transfer tax return and pay the tax in 2 months. However, the deadlines have the following exceptions:
- When you buy real estate property: Submit the transfer tax return and pay the tax by the time when you apply for registration of the transfer of title. You must submit a request the appropriate registrations to the National Land Survey in 6 months from signing the contract.
- When you only buy a building or structure (not the land): After you have signed the deed of sale or other agreement, submit the transfer tax return and pay the tax in 6 months.
- When you buy an apartment or house that has just been built: After you have received the right of ownership to the new apartment or house, submit the transfer tax return and pay the tax in 2 months, also in case a real estate agent has assisted you with the transaction.
- When you buy securities with the assistance of a real estate agent: You must pay the transfer tax immediately when the contract is signed, and the real estate agent must submit the return to the Tax Administration when the contract is signed.
- Auctioneers that have the obligation to collect transfer tax from buyers: If corporate stock or securities were sold through a Compulsory auction (also known as “foreclosure”; pakkohuutokauppa, exekutiv auktion) and the auctioneer collected transfer tax from the buyer, it is required that the auctioneer pay the tax immediately when the transaction is made. Then the auctioneer must submit the return to the Tax Administration by the 15th of the month following the date of when the sales contract was signed.
If you file the transfer tax return late, the Tax Administration may impose a late-filing penalty.
Transfer tax does not have to paid if the calculation result is less than 10 euros of tax – or if you are a first-time homebuyer. You still have to submit a tax return.
1 Buyer or other recipient of the transfer
Enter the buyer’s (other recipient’s) name and personal identity code or Business ID as appropriate. If the buyer has no Finnish personal ID or Business ID, enter their date of birth or their foreign personal ID or corporate ID.
2 Seller or other transferor
Enter the name and personal identity code, or enter the business name and Business ID. If the seller has no Finnish personal ID or Business ID, enter their date of birth or their foreign personal ID or corporate ID. If you are unable to find out the seller’s ID code, it is enough if you just enter their name.
Fill in only if the purchase or transfer involved corporate stock:
“Corporate stock” is stock or shares of a company active in some kind of business. Consequently, shares in housing and real-estate companies are not treated as being corporate stock.
- If the sale or transfer is for corporate stock, enter how many shares were sold/transferred by the seller according to the contract (if the contract indicates a number of shares).
- The seller must collect the tax because the buyer is a nonresident (a foreign citizen): Tick this box if corporate stock was sold and you must collect tax. The seller must collect the transfer tax on such a sale/transfer because the buyer is a nonresident (a foreign citizen). In this case, it is your obligation to submit a transfer tax return and collect the tax from the foreign buyer. In case there are several sellers, your obligation is simply to submit a transfer tax return and pay transfer tax only for the part that you yourself had collected. What you should enter on the form is just your personal identity code (or Business ID) and your share of the price and other compensation.
- Tick the box as appropriate if both the seller and buyer are nonresidents (foreign citizens).
There are more than three sellers or transferors: For multiple owners of the sold or transferred asset, the form contains enough space for three sellers. If you are submitting this form for more than three sellers, give the details of the first three, and then tick the “Yes” box.
3 Information on the deed of sale or other contract
The Signing date of deed of sale or other contract means the date when deed/contract was signed. A deed of sale, a contract of exchange, a document on the distribution of matrimonial assets or of an estate are examples of signed agreements.
Date of transfer of ownership rights: Indicate the date when the right of ownership went over to the buyer/other recipient. You can check the deed of sale to see what has been agreed on ownership rights. In general, for new residential property being sold or transferred, the date of transfer of ownership is the date when the final installment of the price has been paid.
4 The property is real estate, a designated share, parcel of land or lease rights – transfer tax is 3% (4% before 12 Oct 2023)
If the property consists of a real estate unit, or of a designated share, a parcel of land or a lease right that must be officially registered, you must fill out this section.
ID of the real estate, parcel code or lease identifier: Enter the code or ID that identifies the property that has been bought/transferred
- Property identifier for a unit of real estate (e.g. 091–011–0022–0033)
- ID for a parcel code (e.g. 091–011–0022–0033–M101)
- ID for a lease (e.g. 091–011–0022–0033–L1)
If you bought land but it does not yet have a parcel code, you are required to enter the ID of the real estate that the parcel was previously part of.
The form has enough space for two ID codes. If you have more than two codes to enter, only enter the first two on the form and tick the “More than two units of real estate were transferred to me” box.
5 The property is building/structure without the land – transfer tax is 3% (4% before 12 Oct 2023)
Fill in this section if you only buy a building and no land or ground – the contract is then “for a separate sale or conveyance”. Buildings or structures without the right of ownership over the ground typically include garden cabins and summerhouses without the land where they are located and without any transferrable leasehold rights.
ID of the real estate, parcel code or lease identifier: Enter the code or ID that identifies the land area where your newly acquired building is located:
- Property identifier for a unit of real estate (e.g. 091–011–0022–0033)
- ID for a parcel code (e.g. 091–011–0022–0033–M101)
- ID for a lease (e.g. 091–011–0022–0033–L1)
Other identifiers, codes, identity details: If you bought a small summerhouse that belongs to an association of garden cabins, etc., fill in the name of the association and the cabin number.
6 The acquired property is housing-company shares or other shares and securities.
Tick a box as appropriate:
Residential property (shares in a housing company or a mutual real estate holding company), tax 1.5% (2% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if you acquired shares giving you the right to live in a residential unit, apartment, suite, flat, etc.
Parking space, storage unit, office space or other space (shares in a housing company/mutual real estate holding company), tax 1.5% (2% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if you acquired shares giving you the right to a parking space, office spaces for business, a storage facility, etc.
Share in other real estate company, tax 1.5% (2% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if you acquired shares of a real estate company that do not entitle you to any unit, apartment, space, etc. in a building. This box must also be ticked if you acquired shares in domestic or foreign holding companies of real estate.
Corporate share, tax 1.5% (1,6% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if what you acquired is corporate stock in a typical limited-liability company operating a business, and you bought the share outside of the stock exchange (i.e. outside of an organisation that arranges public sales and purchases of listed-company stock). Shares in housing companies, real estate companies and real estate holding companies are not “corporate shares”.
Securities other than shares, tax 1.5% (1.6% before 12 Oct 2023): (e.g. employee stock options, cooperative certificate of participation, promissory note): Tick this box if you acquired securities that are not shares, such as certificates of options, bonds, debentures, promissory notes with returns on them that depend on profits, performance or dividends of the corporate entity that issued them.
Time share, tax 1,5% (2% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if you acquired time shares in a housing company or real estate company that give the right of possession over a specific apartment at agreed intervals, during certain weeks, etc.
Golf share, tax 1,5% (2% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if you acquired shares giving you the right to play golf at a golf course owned by the company.
Share in a telephone company, tax 1,5% (1,6% before 12 Oct 2023): Tick this box if you acquired shares of a company that owns the local telephone network.
Business ID of the acquired property; Name of the acquired property: To look up the Business ID, read the deed of sale, contract, the certificate issued by the building manager, the website of the Business Information System (ytj.fi), etc.
If you bought a security that does not consist of corporate shares such as a promissory note or a bond or debenture, enter the name and Business ID of the organisation that had issued the promissory note, bond, etc.
Share numbers: Enter the numbers here as they are set out by the contract/company articles, such as shares 101 to 200.
Quantity of shares: Enter how many shares you acquire (one hundred (100), for example).
Is the acquired asset a new construction? Tick the box if construction of the acquired residential property is ongoing or has just finished. An example of contracts with new property is an acquisition of a flat, apartment or house still under construction.
Are the acquired shares a foreign company’s shares? Tick this box if you acquired shares in a foreign real estate holding company. Enter the Finnish temporary ID issued to the foreign corporate entity – if issued – or the company ID code of the foreign corporate entity in “Business ID of the acquired property” above.
Information on the residential apartment, parking space or other space
Fill in this section only if the shares you acquired give you the right to a specific flat, apartment, unit, suite or space.
Residential or other space (Letter/number): Fill in the address of the flat, apartment or other space by entering a letter and a number as they are recorded in company Articles of Association. Example: A 1. If you acquired an apartment based on time-sharing, enter the letter and the number as they are in the Articles and the week when you have the right to use it. Example: A 1, week 52.
Sq. metres (m2): Enter the square metres of the flat, apartment or other space as they are recorded in company Articles of Association. Example: 60.5 sq.m. However, do not enter any value if it is a timeshare apartment (for vacations, holidays, etc.).
Acquired portion of the entire residential or other space: Indicate what part of the apartment, flat, parking space or other space you have bought or acquired. You must indicate either a percentage (such as 50%) or a fraction (such as 1/2).
There is more than one seller: What share of ownership of the entire residential property, or other space, did each of the sellers sell to you? You are expected to fill in the ownership details specifically for each seller in the same order as on page 1 of the form where you gave details on the sellers. Please note that the form only contains enough space for three sellers. If there are more sellers, you should only specify the parts that originate from three of the sellers.
Example: Eero (Seller no 1) and Vera (Seller no 2) sold their home to Anna and Patrick. Eero owned 1/2 of the home, and correspondingly, Vera owned 1/2 as well. Anna and Patrick buy the home with the ownership divided as Anna – 1/2; Patrick – 1/2. Both Anna and Patrick must submit their own, separate transfer tax returns. Anna enters that the part sold by Eero (Seller no 1) is 1/4 and the part sold by Vera (Seller no 2) is 1/4.
7 Additional details on the purchase or transfer
Is the purchase related to the end of marriage or cohabitation, the distribution of an estate or will? Tick this box if you had acquired the property/asset as a gift, as an inheritance, or by a last will.
Is the transfer of corporate shares or other securities based on work effort, either completely or in part? Tick this box if the securities/stock were given to you by your employer or your customer company.
Were you a shareholder or partner in the seller company before this transfer, or are you a parent, spouse or child of a shareholder or partner? In the case of a contract between a company and its shareholder (partner), the transfer tax must be paid on the fair market value of the property, even if the transaction price in the contract were lower than the fair market value. Enter the fair market value in “Your share of the selling price” under section 9 of the form.
Is this transaction an exchange deal, i.e. did you pay the purchase price or part of it by giving the seller property subject to transfer tax, such as real estate or shares in a housing company? Tick this box if an exchange deal had been made or if there was a dissolution of shared ownership.
Compulsory sale through a distraint order. Tick this box if you had bought the property/asset in a foreclosure process i.e. a forced sale.
The buyer is a company: Is the seller a shareholder or a partner in the buyer company or a child, parent or spouse or child of a shareholder/partner? In the case of a contract between a company and its shareholder (partner), the transfer tax must be paid on the fair market value of the property, even if the transaction price in the contract were lower than the fair market value. Enter the fair market value in “Your share of the selling price” under section 9 of the form.
The buyer is a company: Is the property transferred from one group company to another, within a consolidated enterprise group? Tick the box if the buyer is a general partnership or a limited partnership and the seller is a member of the same group enterprise as the buyer.
The transfer recipient is a company: Has the property been transferred in exchange for interest in a partnership? Tick the box if the buyer is a general partnership or a limited partnership and the price paid to the seller has been a share in the partnership itself. In the case of a contract between a company and its shareholder (or partner), the transfer tax must be paid on the fair market value of the property, even if the transaction price in the contract were lower than the fair market value. Enter the fair market value in “Your share of the selling price” under section 9 of the form.
Has an advance ruling been issued by the Finnish Tax Administration regarding this contract, which you are requesting to be applied? Advance rulings may be sought in taxation matters. The Tax Administration provides information on tax decisions in advance, against a charge. Tick this box if you have received an advance ruling and you make a demand that your transfer tax must be calculated accordingly.
8 Purchasing residential property as a first-time homebuyer (purchased before 1 January 2024)
Must be filled in by first-time homebuyers for whom the purchase contract or other agreement of transfer of residential property was signed before 1 January 2024. First-time homebuyers do not have to pay transfer tax on a home purchase, i.e. the house or apartment they buy in order to live in it, if the requirements listed on the return form are met.
If the real estate or home is only partly exempt from tax, enter the part of its purchase price and other compensation on which you are paying transfer tax. Circumstances where the real estate or home is only partly exemptible from transfer tax include: partial use for a business operation, the home being part of a larger purchase because you also are buying woodlands or fields together with the home, and other similar situations.
Please note: No exemption for first-time homebuyers is granted, if the date when you signed the contract or other agreement is 1 January 2024 or a later date.
9 The selling price and other compensation
You must only enter the part of the price and other compensation that you are paying. If the buyer is a general partnership or limited partnership, you must enter the part paid by that partnership.
Your share of the selling price: Enter the part of the price that you are expected to pay.
In the case of a contract between a company and its shareholder (partner), the transfer tax must be paid on the fair market value of the property, even if the transaction price in the contract were lower than the fair market value. In this case, you must report the fair market value of the property being purchased.
Your share of a housing-company loan: Must be filled in if you are buying shares in a housing company and a loan taken by the housing company is partly attributable to those shares.
Your share of the seller’s home loan or other debt that you have taken over: It is also treated as an act of paying if you accept to pay up a debt that the seller has. You must indicate the balance of such a debt or loan.
Your share of other compensation which is a benefit to the seller: Your deed of sale or other contract may, besides the sum total of the price you must pay in cash, contain an agreement to make an additional payment in a certain way. Payment obligations of this type may be to the seller, or to some third party, or for the benefit of a third party, etc. If the effect of such an agreement is some sort of benefit for the seller, it is regarded as part of the sum total you are paying. You must enter the amount you are paying this way.
Does the deed of sale include a condition for an additional price? The “additional price” is an amount that cannot be determined in exact terms until after the contract is signed. Tick the box as appropriate. Enter the part you pay of the additional price. If the additional selling price has only been determined or clarified after the deed of sale was signed, you must give the date when this happened.
Sum total of the selling price and other compensation: Add the values on the previous lines together and enter the sum here. You must fill in this line even if you had only entered one single amount in the lines above.
10 Transfer tax
Amount of transfer tax: Enter the part of transfer tax that you are paying. If the apartment or house you buy as a first-time homebuyer is partly exempt from transfer tax (see guidance above for section 8 of this form), enter the part of transfer tax that you are paying also in that case.
If you have the obligation to collect and pay transfer tax, and there are several sellers, give details on the transfer tax return only on the part that you yourself had collected from the foreign buyer.
If the sale, conveyance, or transfer of property is fully exempt – as it is for first-time homebuyers, for example – you must enter 0.00.
The calculation formula for transfer tax:
Sum total of the selling price and other compensation × rate%
100
The rate of transfer tax is 3%:
- You buy a real estate unit, designated share, parcel of land, lease right, or a building without the land (4% before 12 Oct 2023)
The rate of transfer tax is 1,5%:
- You buy shares in a housing company or real estate company, share in a golf course company, or a time-share for a vacation home (2% before 12 Oct 2023).
- You buy shares other than housing-company and real-estate-company shares; such as corporate stock and shares in a local telephone company (1.6% before 12 Oct 2023).
You can launch the calculator on Tax.fi to work out how much you have to pay (tax.fi/transfertaxcalculator).
Example: Anna and Patrick buy a house in 2024 for €30,000 with the ownership divided as Anna – 2/3 and Patrick – 1/3. Transfer tax on the price under the 3-percent rate is €900 for the entire unit of real estate. Anna must pay €600 in transfer tax while Patrick must pay €300.
What if I pay my transfer tax late?
If you pay transfer tax after its due date, you must pay late-payment interest in addition to the tax. Enter the days past due date under Late payment interest for (ddmmyyyy - ddmmyyyy). The amount of interest must be entered in the Late-payment interest line.
The interest period starts on the day after the due date, and ends on the day of your payment – in other words, you also pay interest for the final day when you pay the tax.
The calculation formula:
(interest days × interest rate × amount of transfer tax)
365 × 100%
The number of interest days is the actual number of days in the calendar month or year. There are 365 interest days in a year, or 366 in a leap year.
You can use the late-payment calculator to work out the exact amount of interest.
If your transfer tax is overdue and you pay it without adding the required late-payment interest to it, the Tax Administration will perform the calculation to add the interest to your tax and impose it on you.
Amount of punitive tax increase: you must report the amount of increased transfer tax here.
After you have signed the deed of sale or other contract, you must ask the authorities to register you as the holder of title to your newly acquired real estate. The deadline for this is 6 months. If 6 months elapse and no registration or recording of title has been applied for, the tax is increased by 20 percent per each beginning six months. The counting of time starts on the date by which the registration/recording should have been applied for. The punitive increase must be added and paid even if transfer tax had been paid on time. The increase is only added to a maximum limit of 100% of the original amount of transfer tax.
Total amount payable: Add the values on the previous lines together and enter the sum here.
11 Signature and contact information
Remember to sign the return and fill in your contact information as appropriate.
12 Contact information of your authorized representative if applicable
If you have a representative who will answer any questions about the submitted return, or if the Tax Administration should send its statement on transfer tax to a representative, fill in the representative’s name, telephone and address. Enclose a power of attorney/letter of authorisation, as appropriate. It may be provided as a free-text letter or on Form 3818e (Letter of authorisation for tax representation of individual taxpayers).
13 Name and contact information of the auctioneer in charge of compulsory sale through a distraint order
As the auctioneer, I collected the transfer tax: Do not fill in this section unless a share certificate (security) was sold at a forced public auction, and you were in charge of the auction and you collected the transfer tax from the buyer.
Don't forget to sign the return form. As the auctioneer, you must give the name of your enforcement agency, its Business ID and contact information.
Deliver the transfer tax return to the tax office
Send completed form and enclosures to:
Finnish Tax Administration
P.O. Box 700
00052 VERO
Alternatively, you can drop it off at any office of the Tax Administration. After the Tax Administration has received and scanned your transfer tax form, you can see it in MyTax.
Certificate of transfer tax
After the transfer tax stated in the return has been paid and the Tax Administration has received the payment, you will receive a certificate on filed and paid tax by letter. The certificate is also in MyTax and you can print it out from there.
If the assets or property that you bought consists of corporate stock, you can send that certificate on to the company in order to have your name entered in its list of shareholders. Ask the company manager about any other documentation they might require.
If the property consists of a real estate unit, or of a designated share, a parcel of land or a lease right that must be officially registered, do not forget to ask the National Land Survey of Finland for registration of title.
How to pay your transfer tax
Pay the tax to the Tax Administration’s bank account. When you pay the tax, enter the bank reference number for transfer tax provided by the Tax Administration. Reference numbers are different for every individual and every company. Find your reference number in MyTax. Alternatively, you can call our telephone service 029 497 050 (Finnish tax matters).
It is important that you enter the proper reference number. The Tax Administration uses the reference number to identify the type of tax and the payer.