Employer's and representative's obligations

A Finnish employer and international situations

In international situations, a Finnish employer must report the following data to the Incomes Register:

  • income paid for working abroad (to persons living abroad and in Finland);
  • income paid for working in Finland to an income earner coming to Finland from abroad to work;
  • wages paid by a foreign group company for working abroad, when a Finnish employer has posted an employee abroad and the employee is insured in Finland;
  • wages for insurance purposes agreed for the work abroad;
  • additional information on the work abroad for the Tax Administration (the so-called six-month rule); and
  • additional information on work in a Nordic country for the Tax Administration.

Foreign employer's obligation to submit data to the Incomes Register

A foreign employer is also obligated to report data to the Incomes Register on wages it has paid. Furthermore, a foreign employee leasing company that leases employees to a service recipient in Finland must submit data to the Incomes Register concerning the employee's work in Finland.

Social insurance contributions must be paid to Finland and the necessary data reported to the Incomes Register when the employee is insured in Finland. Social insurance contributions or other fees collected from the employee abroad are not reported to the Incomes Register.

The employer's obligations are affected by whether the employer has a permanent establishment in Finland as regards income taxation.

If, with regard to income taxation, a foreign employer has a permanent establishment in Finland and pays wages for work performed in Finland, the company must register with the Tax Administration's Employer Register. In such a case, the employer has the same employer obligations in taxation as a Finland-based employer, and must submit data to the Incomes Register in the same way as a Finnish company.

Employer's health insurance contributions are paid to Finland and reported to the Incomes Register only if the foreign employer has a permanent establishment in Finland.

If, with regard to income taxation, a foreign employer does not have a permanent establishment in Finland, it does not need to register with the Employer Register. Even if a foreign employer does not have a permanent establishment in Finland as regards income taxation and is not registered with the Employer Register, it must submit an earnings payment report to the Incomes Register in the following situations:

  1. Income is paid to an income earner working in Finland, and 
    • the income earner is insured in Finland, or
    • the income earner stays in Finland for more than six months, or
    • the employee is a leased employee who is a non-resident taxpayer, and Finland has the taxing right to the wages according to a tax treaty between the employee's country of residence and Finland.
  2. An income earner working abroad is paid income, and the income earner is insured in Finland

If the company submits earnings payments reports to the Incomes Register, the data must be reported primarily with a Finnish Business ID.

Also check the Tax Administration’s instructions for obligations of a foreign employer

If, with regard to income taxation, a foreign employer does not have a permanent establishment in Finland but pays wages for work performed in Finland, the employer can register with the Employer Register if it so desires.

The employer will then have the same employer obligations as regards taxation as employers in Finland.

A foreign corporate entity with resident tax liability in Finland is also considered as Finnish employer.

Representative of a foreign employer

If a foreign employer is registered in the Prepayment Register, it must submit both an earnings payment report and an employer's separate report to the Incomes Register.

If a foreign employer is not registered in the Prepayment Register, a representative of the foreign employer has an obligation to report the data required for taxation. If there is no representative, the foreign employer must report the data.

The representative is obligated to report the following data to the Incomes Register on behalf of the employer:

  • the wages paid by a foreign employer for work performed in Finland when a foreign employee leasing company has leased an employee to a service recipient in Finland and when the tax treaty between the employee's country of residence and Finland does not prevent Finland from taxing the wages; and
  • the wages paid by a foreign employer when the employee stays in Finland consecutively for more than six months.

Please note that, whenever an income earner is insured in Finland, the foreign employer must report the data to the Incomes Register for insurance providers. This is not affected by whether the employer has a representative or not.

Page last updated 9/29/2021