Reporting of a health insurance contribution
As an employer, you are usually obligated to take out insurance for your employees and pay social security contributions, for example a health insurance contribution.
The health insurance contribution consists of the employee's health insurance contribution and the employer's health insurance contribution.
Insurance obligation and data to be reported to the Incomes Register
Check the following instruction to see when you, as an employer, are obligated to take out insurance for your employees and what information about contributions must be reported to the Incomes Register.
Employer's health insurance contribution
- Must be paid, if the employee is
- 16 to 67 year old
- covered by the Finnish social insurance system in accordance with the Health Insurance Act.
- The obligation to provide insurance ends when the employee turns 68 years of age.
- Report employer's health insurance contribution to the Incomes Register by submitting a employer's separate report.
- Pay health insurance contribution to the Finnish Tax Administration.
Employee's health insurance contribution
- Included in the amount withheld.
- Not reported separately to the Incomes Register.
- Withhold tax from an employee’s wages and report it to the Incomes Register under the income type 402 Withholding tax on the earnings payment report.
Employee's health insurance contribution in international employment situations
Health insurance contribution of an employee working abroad (minimum withholding)
- If one of your employees who is covered by insurance in Finland works abroad and the six-month rule is applicable to their wages, apply minimum withholding based on wages for insurance purposes. Report the amount withheld to the Incomes Register under the income type 402 Withholding tax.
Health insurance contribution of an employee who is a non-resident taxpayer
- If an employee has a non-resident taxpayer’s tax card, the contribution is included in the amount withheld. Report the share of the health insurance contribution to the Incomes Register under the income type 402 Withholding tax.
- If you collect tax at source from the employee’s wages, withhold the health insurance contribution separately and report the following to the Incomes Register on an earnings payment report:
- tax at source under the income type 404 Tax at source; and
- the employee’s health insurance contribution under the income type 412 Employee’s health insurance contribution.
Read more about the topic, including the monetary thresholds in the Finnish Tax Administration's guidance Health insurance contributions in international employment situations.
Employer's health insurance contribution
The employer's health insurance contribution is determined based on the wages subject to health insurance contributions paid to income earners.
The employer reports the total amount of the employer's health insurance contribution and the deductions made from it to the Incomes Register once a month using the employer's separate report.
Read more about the employer's separate report
Self-employed persons: The employer's health insurance contribution is paid based on the actual wages paid to the self-employed person. The health insurance contribution is reported to the Incomes Register in the employer's separate report. The obligation for the health insurance contribution may not be cancelled on the earnings payment report with Exception to insurance information.
However, employer's health insurance contribution is not paid from the wages paid to a self-employed person if the self-employed person is not obligated to take out a YEL or MYEL insurance under the self-employed persons' pensions act (yrittäjän eläkelaki 1272/2006) or the farmers' pensions act (maatalousyrittäjän eläkelaki 1280/2006) due to low income or the self-employed person's age, for example.
Households: If a household pays an income earner EUR 1,500 or less over a calendar year, it does not have to pay the employer’s health insurance contribution or submit the employer’s separate report.
Wages exempted from the employer's health insurance contribution
The employer's health insurance contribution need not be paid if the income earner
- is not covered by Finnish social security
- is aged under 16 or over 67
- is a self-employed person who is not under obligation to take out YEL or MYEL insurance
In these situations, Type of exception to insurance is reported to the Incomes Register. The information is reported in the Incomes Register's e-service under Exceptions to insurance.
Read more about exceptions to insurance
The employer is not obligated to provide insurance
The employer's health insurance contribution is paid for wages paid to employees 16–67 years of age.
If the income earner is younger or older than this or a self-employed person who is not under obligation to take out YEL or MYEL insurance, Type of exception to insurance: No obligation to provide insurance (health insurance) is reported to the Incomes Register.
The income earner is not subject to Finnish social security
If the income earner is not subject to Finnish social security, no health insurance contribution is collected from the income paid to them and no employer's health insurance contribution is paid.
For instance, an income earner working in Finland is not subject to Finnish social security if the legislation of some other country applies to the income earner as based on the EU's social security regulation and they have an A1 certificate. In that case, the following Type of exception to insurance is reported to the Incomes Register: Not subject to Finnish social security (health insurance).
Employee's health insurance contribution
The employee's health insurance contribution is included in the withheld tax. Thus the employer does not collect the health insurance contribution from the employee's wages or report it to the Incomes Register.
However, the employer must collect the health insurance contribution if the wage income received by a non-resident taxpayer is subject to tax at source and the employee is insured in Finland. In such situations, the employer must report the health insurance contribution it has collected to the incomes register under income type Employee’s health insurance contribution (412).
Self-employed persons: The Tax Administration applies the MYEL and YEL income from work, as endorsed by the insurance company, when determining the self-employed person’s health insurance contribution.
Detailed instructions and examples
Check the examples and read more about insurance:
Reporting data to the Incomes Register: insurance-related data
Reporting data to the Incomes Register: International situations