How to apply for VAT special scheme registration

When Finland is the Member State of identification, the company can file its registration in MyTax. There is a different registration document for each one of the schemes.

Go to MyTax

After the Tax Administration has processed your registration, you receive a decision letter via MyTax. The decision can be appealed.

Import scheme registration if an intermediary represents the company

If you are an intermediary representing a company in the import scheme, first file a registration notice about your intermediary position to the Member State of identification. You can file this registration in MyTax in Finland. When your registration as an intermediary has been approved, you can submit a registration notice on behalf of all the companies you represent. Enclose the following documents with the registration notice

• Letter of authorisation (power of attorney) or an agreement which proves your right to act as the company’s intermediary
• Documentation issued by a public authority of the company’s country, equivalent of a trade register extract, showing the name, domicile, line of business and accounting period of the company you represent, and the names of those who have the rights to sign for the company.

Also include a Finnish, Swedish or English translation of any enclosures in foreign languages.

What preconditions are there for registration?

A company or an intermediary is accepted to the special scheme if the following conditions are met:

• The company satisfies the requirements, in effect for the particular special scheme, concerning its domicile and the existence of a fixed establishment.
• The company conducts business that is covered by the special scheme.
• The company has not registered for the same special scheme in another Member State.

It is not possible for a company to sign up for any of the special schemes if it has been removed from a scheme due to repeated neglect relating to filings and payments, and a related waiting period has been imposed. During such a waiting period, the company cannot be on any of the special schemes in any Member State.

A further condition for the registration of an intermediary is that the prospective intermediary has not significantly failed to comply – and is not expected to fail to comply – with its tax-related obligations.

Special scheme identification numbers

In order to use the special scheme, the company needs a unique VAT number. The VAT number indicates the country in which the taxpayer company, or its intermediary, has registered and it also indicates the scheme for which it has registered.

An example of a VAT number when Finland is the Member State of identification is given in brackets. The VAT identification numbers with the EU, IM and IN prefixes are for the special schemes only.

Union scheme

• national VAT identification number (FInnnnnnnn)

Non-Union scheme

• EU-prefixed VAT identification number (EU246yyyyyz)

In the Union and the non-Union scheme, the VAT number remains the same if you register again in the same country.

Import scheme

• taxpayer has an IM-prefixed VAT identification number (IM246yyyyyz)
• intermediary has an IN-prefixed identification number for acting as an intermediary (IN246yyyyyz)

In the import scheme, the VAT number changes if the company or the intermediary signs up again for registration in the same country. 

Ending your special scheme participation

After a company has been registered in Finland, it is entitled to discontinue its registration on its initiative. It is also possible that the Finnish Tax Administration dismisses the company from the scheme.

Leaving the special scheme on the company’s initiative

After a company for which the Member State of identification is Finland has decided to leave the scheme, it must file a notice of termination in MyTax. Go to All activities — Ending the use of the VAT special scheme.

If an intermediary represents the company, the intermediary can file the notice.

Typical reasons for leaving a special scheme include a situation where the company ceases to conduct a business covered by the scheme, and circumstances where the preconditions to file and pay VAT through the scheme no longer are fulfilled.

In the same way as the companies that conduct business, intermediaries that decide to leave the scheme and discontinue their activity as an intermediary must file a notice of termination in MyTax.

In what circumstances would the Tax Administration dismiss a company?

For example, if it becomes known that a company with Finland as the Member State of identification no longer pursues its business operation related to the special scheme, the Finnish Tax Administration will remove the company – or its intermediary – from the scheme.

Similar removal also takes place if the Tax Administration has sent the company or intermediary a reminder for three tax periods in a row, regarding:

• Non-filing of VAT returns, unless the returns have been filed for each of the three periods no later than on the 10th day from the date of reminder.
• Unpaid tax or other payment, unless the amount arrives by the 10th day from the date of reminder. However, if the outstanding amount stays below €100 for all the three periods, the company is not removed.

If an intermediary is removed from the import scheme, this also results in the dismissal of all the companies the intermediary has represented.

Dismissals and the related waiting periods

Due to repeated neglect, the Finnish Tax Administration can decide to remove a company from a VAT special scheme. If this happens, the company will also be removed from any other special schemes with which it has been registered.

Such a dismissal causes a waiting period to begin, both for the company and its intermediary, when the company cannot be on any of the special schemes in any Member State. The above restriction will then also concern the intermediary.

However, the activities of the company and the activities of the intermediary are treated as being separate from one another. No waiting time is imposed on the represented company if its intermediary is dismissed from the import scheme due to its neglect. In these circumstances, the company is free to appoint a new intermediary for itself or sign up independently to the import scheme if this is feasible.