Employer Register

For purposes of taxation, employers can be considered either regular or casual.

Regular or casual employer – when is registration required?

Companies acting as regular employers must always sign up for the register of employers. A company is considered to be a regular employer in the following circumstances:

• The company regularly pays wages or salaries to 2 or more employees.
• The company regularly pays wages or salaries to one employee as well as to one or multiple employees whose employment is temporary or intended to be short-term.
• The company pays wages to at least 6 employees simultaneously, even if their employment contracts are temporary and only for a short period.

Employers who pay wages occasionally do not have to register with the Employer Register. A company is a casual employer if either of the following conditions is met:

• The company employs only one regular employee.
• The company employs one to five employees whose employment does not last the whole calendar year.

Different reporting obligations for registered and unregistered employers

Companies must report the wages they pay by submitting an earnings payment report to the Incomes Register. They must submit a report even if they are not registered with the Employer Register. To report the employer’s health insurance contributions, they must file an employer’s separate report.

Read more: Reporting wages and employer’s contributions

If a company is a regular employer registered with the Employer Register, it must also submit a report on the months when it does not pay any wages. To report “no wages payable”, the company must submit an employer’s separate report.

If the company is a casual employer not registered with the Employer Register and if it does not pay any wages or employer’s contributions, it need not submit a report to the Incomes Register.

How to register as an employer

1. You can register with the Employer Register simultaneously as you set up a company. See the instructions for filing a start-up notification
2. If you do not pay wages regularly until after you have set up a company, you can register with the Employer Register by filing a notification of changes (ytj.fi).

How to deregister

If your company stops paying wages or starts paying wages occasionally rather than regularly, report it in MyTax or file a notification of termination (ytj.fi) as soon as possible.

How to unregister from the Finnish Tax Administration's register on MyTax

When you have reported that the company’s business operations have terminated, the Tax Administration removes the company from the register of employers and informs you of the removal and of the end date of registration. Report and pay the employer's contributions up until the end date of registration.

If you pay wages occasionally after you have filed a notification of termination, report and pay the employer's contributions for as long as you pay wages.