The lifecycle and renewal of certificates
You need a certificate if you want to submit data or retrieve data through APIs to your own software. Production and testing certificates are valid for two years, after which they must be renewed.
We recommend that you contact the supplier of your organisation’s software system to discuss what needs to be done when a certificate is due for renewal. Because of the many differences between software products, the steps you need to take may vary.
The certificate can tell you when it expires and stops being active. Your supplier will explain how you can check the period of validity. You can also see the certificates of your organisation when you log in to the Tax Administration’s certificate service.
The certificate’s technical contact person will receive an email reminder 60 days before the certificate expires. Keep the contact person’s information updated. You can change the email address in the certificate service’s e-service.
You can renew a certificate at the earliest 60 days before its expiry. If the certificate expires, the interface can no longer be used. Each organisation is responsible for renewing their certificate.
The certificate is renewed in the certificate service’s API
You cannot renew your certificate in the Tax Administration’s certificate service's e-service. Some software products, but not all, contain an auto-renewal feature for completing the renewal process. Contact your supplier to check this.
Technically, to initiate renewal, send a service call to the certificate service’s API. There is a separate service for renewals (RenewCertificate). When you want to renew a certificate, do this:
- Create a new key pair.
- Generate a certificate signing request.
- Sign the service call using a key related to the valid certificate and send it.
If renewal of a certificate is not possible, request a new certificate
If your organisation’s certificate cannot be renewed using your software or if the stage is reached when the certificate expires, request a new certificate for your organisation in the certificate service's e-service.
Read instructions:
Requesting a production certificate
Finally, retrieve your new certificate in the certificate service's e-service or using the certificate service’s API. Retrieval requires technical skills.
If your matter concerns test certificates, follow the specific testing instructions of the services concerned: