Business vehicles used for work on a tax-exempt basis
If you live in Finland permanently and the location of your place of work is outside of Finland, you can use an employer-provided motor vehicle to perform work tasks in Finland.
However, you are not treated as performing work tasks when you drive the vehicle for your daily commute from home to work and back.
Requirements of tax-exempt use
As a person living in Finland permanently, you are entitled to drive the business vehicle exempt from tax if:
- Your workplace is located abroad,
- The vehicle has a permanent vehicle registration in the country where your workplace is located,
- Your employer is the vehicle’s owner, or your employer holds the vehicle by virtue of a lease contract, etc.,
- Your driving in Finland is maximally for 72 hours at a time,
- The sole purpose of your driving here is to do your work, and
- After you have finished your current work assignment in Finland, you take the vehicle along with you to the country where your workplace is located
Submit a declaration of tax-exempt use
Submit the declaration of tax-exempt use before you start driving the vehicle in Finland. If several upcoming dates have been planned when the vehicle is going to be driven, you can submit one declaration that covers one entire year.
Submit the declaration in MyTax
MyTax opens on the Your tax types tab. First select the All tax types tab, then Activities relating to car tax. Then click the link for Declaration of tax-exempt use.
After you submit the declaration, the Tax Administration sends you an acknowledgement of receipt. You will see the acknowledgement letter in your MyTax mailbox where you can print it out. The letter will also be sent to you by post.
Keep a copy of the letter with you in the vehicle and present it to the police or Customs if necessary.
The letter contains an end date for its period of validity. You must submit a new declaration again if you drive the same business vehicle at a later date. In the same way, if any of the facts and information have changed that you gave on your earlier declaration, you must submit a new declaration.
Please note: The letter is not a statement of approval regarding tax-exempt use. Make sure that the motor vehicle will only be driven for the tax-exempt purpose. You must do this before the driving begins. If there are no valid reasons for tax exemption, your use of the vehicle is subject to car tax. You can request an advance ruling on how the act on car tax (Autoverolaki 1482/1994) is applied to the tax assessment of your vehicle. Read more about requests for an advance ruling.
If you cannot log in to MyTax to send the declaration, complete and submit Form 1240e on paper (Declaration of vehicle use – a foreign employer’s motor vehicle operated in business). You will receive the acknowledgement of receipt by post. The letter is sent to the address you have indicated.
In what way is a company car (a fringe benefit) different from a business vehicle driven for work?
Business vehicles cannot be driven for purposes other than work, without having to pay Finnish car tax on the vehicle. A company car that your employer has given to you as a fringe benefit is different: you can drive it in order to take care of various work tasks, and you can drive it for your own personal purposes, too.
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