Pre-completed tax returns now in MyTax – check and make changes

Wage earners’ and pension recipients’ pre-completed tax returns are available in MyTax today at the latest. Your due date for additions and changes is 9, 16 or 23 May.

Pre-completed tax returns for approximately 5.5 million wage earners and pension recipients are now available in MyTax. Those who have not yet activated e-communication with authorities, i.e. Suomi.fi messages, will receive their tax returns by post by the end of April.
“You must check your pre-completed tax return. If all the information is correct, you do not need to do anything. However, some income and deductions must be reported by the taxpayer because the Tax Administration does not necessarily receive information about them from anywhere else,” says Hilkka Pelander, Customer Relations Director at the Tax Administration.
“For example, if you have rented out an apartment or a boat and received rental income or if you have traded in crypto currencies, you must add the information to the tax return. You must also report travel expenses and claim the credit for household expenses yourself.”

Update travel expenses and workspace deduction

Note that you are now requested to file information for tax year 2022. Pelander wishes to remind taxpayers that the tax credit for electricity, for example, should not be entered in the tax return until next year because the credit is for electricity consumption in January–April 2023.

On the other hand, taxpayers can deduct costs for face masks they wore while commuting between 1 January and 14 April 2022.
“The face mask recommendation of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare was lifted on 14 April 2022. In other words, if you wore face masks while commuting in the first few months of 2022 and bought the masks yourself, you can deduct the cost for the period 1 January–14 April 2022 as travel expenses. The deduction is €2 for each commute day. However, travel expenses have a credit threshold of €750,” says Hilkka Pelander.

“Wage earners who switched to remote work when the coronavirus hit us should update their workspace deduction and commuting expenses,” says Pelander.
“If you worked from home more than 50% of your working hours last year, you should make a standard workspace deduction of €920. The deduction covers lights, electricity, heating, cleaning and furniture, such as a work chair or desk. You can deduct travel expenses only for the days when you went to the workplace.”

10% increase in the amount of tax credit for household expenses

Last spring, the highest number of deductions claimed for 2021 was deductions for travel expenses. The second most popular deduction both in terms of the number of recipients and the euro amount was the tax credit for household expenses, and the third place went to the deductions claimed for the expenses for the production of income.
In euros, the amount of tax credit for household expenses grew by 9.9% from 2020. The increase was evident in all the components of the credit for household expenses: maintenance and improvement costs (+10.3%), household work (+9.3%) and nursing and care (+4.4%).

Most popular deductions in 2021 (2020)

1. Commuting expenses
   • Number of filers: 796,000 (785,000)
   • Total expenses claimed: €2.1 billion (€2.1 billion)
2. Tax credit for household expenses
   • Number of filers: 491,000 (457,000)
   • Total expenses claimed: €1.3 billion (€1.2 billion)
3. Expenses for the production of income
   • Number of filers: 487,000 (476,000)
   • Total expenses claimed: €713 million (€683 million)

Watch out for scam pages – go to MyTax by entering the address in the browser

The Tax Administration asks you to watch out for scam messages and scam pages, which are used for phishing personal IDs and online banking codes. Taxpayers are urged to be careful: Do not go to MyTax by clicking a link provided by the search engine but enter the address www.mytax.fi directly in the browser's address bar. You can also save the address in your browser's bookmarks or favourites.
“Unfortunately, the Tax Administration has been frequently exposed to scams in the current year. It is important to remember that the Tax Administration never asks for taxpayers’ credit card information or online banking codes. Also, we do not ask for personal information by email or text message,” says Hilkka Pelander.

Further information
When you receive your tax return, this is what you should do
Instructions for filing