How associations and foundations report their earnings payment data to the Incomes Register

Wages and other earned income paid must be reported to the Incomes Register. Incomes Register reporting applies to associations and foundations of all kinds, including non-profit or unregistered associations and foundations, that pay wages or other earned income.

There is no monetary minimum threshold or age limit for data reported to the Incomes Register. Competition prizes with a value of no more than EUR 100 form an exception, as they need not be reported to the Incomes Register unless the recipient of the prize is employed by the giver of the prize.

Data that must be reported to the Incomes Register include wages, fringe benefits, fees, non-wage compensations for work and other earnings. Tax-exempt and taxable reimbursements of expenses must also be reported. However, tax-exempt personnel benefits (such as Internet benefit) are not reported to the Incomes Register.

Scholarships and grants are not reported to the Incomes Register.

Associations or foundations are not usually the benefit payers referred to in the Incomes Register act, so they do not confirm the reporting of benefits payment data in the Incomes Register's e-service. If your association or foundation has paid benefits referred to in the Incomes Register act, such as pensions, please contact the Incomes Register's customer service before you submit any reports.

One-off payments made by associations or foundations

Data on one-off payments of no more than EUR 200 made by an association or a foundation must be reported monthly, no later than on the fifth day of the following month.

A one-off payment is a payment that, based on the information available at the time of payment, is made only once. A one-off payment can contain both taxable and tax-exempt income items. A one-off payment can include, for example, wages, non-wage compensations for work or reimbursements of expenses. All various items such as fees and reimbursements of expenses paid at the same time to the income earner are included in the amount of the one-off payment. A typical one-off payment is, for example, a fee paid to a judge in a competition. Although the reporting deadline has been extended, data on one-off payments must be reported to the Incomes Register separately for each payment date.

Fringe benefits must also be reported in real time

Fringe benefit data must be submitted no later than on the fifth day of the calendar month following the fringe benefit's accrual month.

If monetary wages accrued during the fringe benefit's accrual month are paid during the next month, the fringe benefit can be reported as income for that month. The report must then be submitted no later than on the fifth day of the calendar month following the month as the income for which the fringe benefit is reported.

Subject to certain conditions, a telephone benefit can be reported in advance once a year.

Fringe benefits are reported using the earnings payment report. A fringe benefit is not a benefit referred to in the Incomes Register act.

Reporting reimbursements of travel expenses to the Incomes Register

Both tax-exempt and taxable reimbursements of expenses must be reported to the Incomes Register. Reimbursements of expenses are reported on the earnings payment report.

Tax-exempt reimbursements of expenses include kilometre allowances, daily allowances and meal allowances. These reimbursements of expenses must be reported, even if no monetary wages are paid. Reimbursements of accommodation expenses and tickets reimbursed against a receipt are not reported to the Incomes Register.

Tax-exempt  reimbursements of expenses are reported no later than on the fifth day of the month following the payment month.

If, for example, a volunteer delivers travel invoices from several months at once to a non-profit organisation, and tax-exempt reimbursements of expenses are paid as a single payment on one payment date, the reimbursements of expenses paid must be reported to the Incomes Register by the fifth day of the following month. The data must be reported, even if the recipient is not an employee of the payer or is not otherwise paid wages for the work performed.

The payments can be reported on one report once per month, even if there are several payment dates for reimbursements of expenses during the same month. The date of the last payment of reimbursements of expenses during the month is then entered as the payment date on the report.

There are specific restrictions with regard to the tax-exempt reimbursements of expenses paid by non-profit organisations or public sector bodies:

• No more than EUR 3,000 in tax-exempt kilometre allowances can be paid to a single income earner per calendar year. Report kilometre allowances with the income type Kilometre allowance paid by non-profit organisation (357). Report the amount that exceeds the tax-exempt part with the income type Non-wage compensation for work (336).
• Tax-exempt daily allowance can be paid to a single income earner for no more than 20 days per calendar year. Report the daily allowances with the income type Daily allowance paid by non-profit organisation (358). Report the amount that exceeds the tax-exempt part with the income type Non-wage compensation for work (336).

Taxable reimbursements of expenses (and other income) must be reported on the report for the pay period and payment date when the expenses were reimbursed to the income earner or the other income was paid. Taxable reimbursements of expenses must be reported to the Incomes Register within five days of the payment date, even if no monetary wages were paid at the same time.

Report competition prizes valued over EUR 100 to the Incomes Register

The competition organiser does not need to report a competition prize valued no more than EUR 100 to the Incomes Register if the recipient of the prize is not employed by the organiser. Competition prizes can be cash or goods.

More information about reporting competition prizes in the instructions Reporting data to the Incomes Register: rewarding employees, payments made to an entrepreneur and other special circumstances.

Use the Incomes Register electronically

The easiest way of reporting data to the Incomes Register is directly from the payroll system via the technical interface. Associations and foundations can use, for example, the free-of-charge Palkka.fi payroll software that transfers data to the Incomes Register automatically.

Data can also be reported in the Incomes Register's e-service. Sign in to the service at incomesregister.fi. In the e-service, you can report data either by uploading it as XML files or by manually entering the data into an online form. You can sign in to the Incomes Register's e-service with your personal online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.

Granting authorisations for the use of the e-service

An association's Chairman of the Board or authorised signatory who is registered in the Register of Associations and who has the right to represent the association alone can act in the Incomes Register's e-service on behalf of the association without a separate authorisation. These official roles are adequate authorisations for the purposes of the Incomes Register's e-service.

Other representatives of the association need a Suomi.fi authorisation to use the Incomes Register's e-service on behalf of the association. If an individual has the right to represent the association on their own, they can grant authorisations independently in the Suomi.fi e-Authorisations service.

If, according to the association's the signatory rule, the association must be represented jointly by two or more people or the authorised signatory has not been registered in the Register of Associations, authorisations must be granted using an authorisation application.

If the association's authorised signatory has the right to represent the association on their own and the right has been registered in the Register of Association, but they still cannot grant authorisations in the Suomi.fi e-Authorisations service, the authorised signatory must send a request for verification to the Register of Associations using the Finnish Patent and Registration Office’s feedback form.

On the form, you need to select 'Associations' and enter the following information in the text field:

• 'Cannot grant Suomi.fi authorisations'
• The association’s Business ID
• The name of the person who cannot grant authorisations
• An email address for responses. 

Read more about the authorisation application.

Read more about the Incomes Register's authorisation codes.