Termination of business
Businesses and organisations must file a notification of termination when they end their operations. Only one notification is needed to inform both the Tax Administration and the trade register. Note that a limited liability company must be dissolved through a procedure laid down in the law, such as liquidation proceedings. Mere filing of a notification of termination is not enough.
Remember to file the notification of termination – otherwise the operations are considered to continue
If you do not file a notification of termination, the company’s business operations are considered to continue. In that case, you must keep filing tax returns on VAT, employer’s contributions and other self-assessed taxes on a regular basis.
Also note that unemployment allowances and other benefits may require that the business has really been closed down and that the Tax Administration has been notified.
Checklist for closing down a business
1. File a notification of termination
When your company’s business operations end, you must file a notification of termination.
Notification of termination (ytj.fi)
When you file a notification of termination, the information is also transmitted to the Tax Administration, which will remove the company from its registers.
Detailed instructions for foreign companies: termination of business
2. Check the prepayment amount
4. store the material
In what situations can business activities end?
After the authority in charge has cancelled the registration, access to the company’s MyTax is blocked unless there is a Suomi.fi authorisation in force.
However, although the company is no longer on the Trade Register, it will still be required to submit tax returns and pay taxes by their due dates. If the company disregards its tax affairs at this stage, a punitive tax increase may be imposed.
If registration with Finland’s Trade Register is cancelled, and nor the accountant, the accounting firm, or anyone else has a valid Suomi.fi authorisation, here is what to do:
- A representative of the company can submit an authorisation request on the Suomi.fi website. The type of authorisation is “mandate for transactions”. The request has to be signed by a person who has the right to sign for the company. Request authorisations on Suomi.fi
- Read more under Frequently asked questions: Suomi.fi authorisation for taxes – how to grant and request authorisation
- When the Suomi.fi authorisation has become valid, you can log in to MyTax to manage the company’s taxes again.
- Check the company’s income-tax prepayments in MyTax and submit updated information to the Tax Administration if needed, so you will avoid paying too much or too little in prepayments. Request a change to the prepayment amount in MyTax
- Complete and send the company’s tax return(s) and pay the taxes.
- Store the company’s accounting books and financial statements for 10 years, and store its receipts and vouchers for 6 years.
If there are still any other parties the company had issued Suomi.fi authorisations or mandates to, you will need to invalidate every mandate one by one. To do so, submit an application to Suomi.fi. See instructions on Suomi.fi: How to invalidate an organisation’s mandates
Read more about how a company is removed from the Trade Register on the website of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office, PRH: In exceptional circumstances, the PRH will remove your company from the Trade Register or order it into corporate liquidation (in Finnish)