Changes in Incomes Register reporting in 2022
12/9/2021From 2022, bicycle benefits and employer-subsidised commuter tickets will be reported using income types ‘Bicycle benefit, tax-exempt share’ (363) and ‘Employer-subsidised commuter ticket, tax exempt share’ (341) if the benefit has been provided by lowering monetary wages and by providing a tax-exempt benefit equalling the decrease.
For this purpose, the option to report insurance information separately has been added to these income types. Insurance information is required because, in these situations, the amount of taxable wages subject to health insurance contributions differs from the amount of wages subject to other social insurance contributions. The 2021 guidance on the use of income types in substitute payer situations will no longer be valid. More detailed instructions on reporting a benefit provided by decreasing monetary wages are presented in the detailed guidance on fringe benefits and reimbursements of expenses.
Specifications have also been made in other detailed guidance on wages. A summary of changes is presented at the beginning of each guidance. For example, the guidance on corrections presents more clearly that the correction of withholding depends on the calendar year, whereas the correction of employee contributions is determined by the reason for the correction.
Other changes in the earnings payment report
The name of the ‘Temporary employer’ payment type has been changed to ‘Temporary employer (no TyEL insurance policy)’ on the earnings payment report. This change specifies when this data needs to be used.
From next year onwards, the car emissions value must be reported as new data for a car benefit. This data must be reported if the amount of the car benefit has been lowered because the company car has zero or low emissions. The amount of the car benefit can be lowered if the car’s carbon dioxide emissions are at most 100 grams per kilometre.
Now, insurance information can also be reported for the income type ‘Private caretaker’s fee’ (328). Insurance information can be reported to deviate from the default rules for the income type’s social insurance contributions.
A new processing rule has been added to the earnings payment report:
- If the type of additional income earner data is ‘Self-employed person, no obligation to provide YEL or MYEL insurance’, the ‘Type of exception to insurance’ data must be specified on the report. This can be done by entering the types of exception to the social insurance in question separately or by entering a single comprehensive type.
- In addition, new processing rules have been added regarding the reporting of international situations.
- Similarly, some processing rules regarding reporting to Keva have been specified.
Changes have also been made to processing rules for the recovery of wages. These processing rules prevent recovery from being reported before it has actually been carried out. Furthermore, a date preceding the deployment of the Incomes Register cannot be entered as the recovery date. A report on recovery can only be submitted after income has been recovered. In addition, withholding and tax at source cannot be entered as a negative amount if recovery data has been entered for even one income type on the report.
Changes in the employer’s separate report
From now on, the validity of the earnings-related pension policy number is checked based on the reporting period. Therefore, a pension policy number valid in December can be entered on a report on which December has been specified as the reporting period, even if the report was submitted in January after the earnings-related pension provider had been changed.
A new payer type (household and pool of household employers) has been added for households to the employer’s separate report. Households must always select ‘household’ as the payer type. If several households have hired an employee together and a single person pays the employee’s wages and reports related data, ‘household and pool of household employers’ must be selected as the payer type.
Changes in the benefits payment report
Five new income types will be introduced for benefits:
- 1417 Years-of-service pension (voluntary earnings-related pension insurance)
- 1418 Years-of-service pension (direct supplementary pension scheme)
- 1419 Partial early old-age pension (voluntary earnings-related pension insurance)
- 1420 Partial early old-age pension (direct supplementary pension scheme)
- 1421 Income from single premium voluntary pension insurance
Similar changes have been made to processing rules for the recovery of benefits as to processing rules for the recovery of wages.
A processing rule has been added to the benefits payment report to prevent an unjust enrichment and recovery from being selected for certain income types. These income types are either losses or deductions from income. A list of income types is available in the document Benefits – Codes – Income types 2022.
Specifications have also been made in other detailed guidance on benefits.
Penalty fees will also apply to benefits
In 2021, no penalty fees were imposed if benefits payment data was reported late. The transition period will end on 31 December 2021.
After that, the Tax Administration will impose a late-filing penalty if mandatory data on payments is reported to the Incomes Register after the eighth day of the calendar month following the payment date. This process already applies to earnings payment reports and employer’s separate reports.
The purpose of penalty fees is to encourage the reporting of correct data at the correct time. Read more about penalty fees.
More information about changes in 2022
More detailed reporting instructions for 2022 are available in the Incomes Register’s detailed guidance. Updated instructions for reporting benefits and wages will be published once translations have been completed.
Interface descriptions and related application instructions for submitting and distributing the Incomes Register’s earnings and benefits payment data have been published on the Documentation page. For example, income types for benefits and wages are described in the documents: