Claiming adjustment of car tax
You can request a decision on car tax to be adjusted by submitting a claim to the Assessment Adjustment Board. You can claim adjustment if the decision you received contained appeal instructions.
When can I claim adjustment?
You can claim adjustment within three years of the end of the tax year.
- Car tax: the tax year is the calendar year during which the vehicle was taken into taxable use for the first time.
- Refund of car tax: the tax year is the calendar year during which the Finnish Tax Administration made a decision on the case.
However, the claim for adjustment must be submitted within 60 days of the day on which the party entitled to appeal received information about the decision.
Example: You took a vehicle into taxable service for the first time on 1 September 2022 and received a car tax decision on 2 January 2023. Because the liability to pay tax is established according to the date when the vehicle was placed into service for the first time, you can submit your claim for adjustment by the end of 2025. If you only receive a decision at the end of 2025, you can claim adjustment within 60 days of the receipt of the car tax decision.
Exception: If you receive a separate decision, concerning matters like adding your information to the register of filers of car tax, or concerning a negligence penalty, the claim for adjustment must be submitted within 60 days of receiving the decision. Therefore, the appeal period is significantly shorter than three years.
If the end date of the calendar year is a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline is the following workday. At the latest, the claim for adjustment must be delivered to the Finnish Tax Administration at 4:15 pm on that day.
To check the length of the appeal period, always read the appeal instructions enclosed with the decision.
Appeals for decisions made before 1 January 2021:
You can claim adjustment for tax decisions and tax-refund decisions within three years of the beginning of the year following the issuance of the decision. However, the claim for adjustment can always be submitted within 60 days of the day on which the party entitled to appeal received information about the decision. In other cases, the appeal period is 60 days starting from the receipt of information about the decision.
How to claim adjustment
You can submit the claim for adjustment via MyTax.
- After logging in to MyTax, select ‘Tax matters’.
- Under ‘Claims for adjustment’, open ‘All adjustment matters’.
- Select the ‘Claim for adjustment of car tax’ link.
Alternatively, you can submit a claim in your own words. In that case as well, enter the following information:
- the appellant’s name and personal identity code or Business ID;
- the decision to be adjusted;
- details of the adjustment you are seeking;
- the grounds for the adjustment;
- signature (if someone submits the claim for adjustment on your behalf, attach a power of attorney); and
- supporting documents which you have not previously delivered to the Finnish Tax Administration.
Send the claim for adjustment to: Finnish Tax Administration, Car tax, PO Box 20, FI-00052 VERO.
After claiming adjustment
If you have any unpaid tax, pay the tax by its due date even if you have submitted a claim for adjustment. If necessary, you can request a payment arrangement or an order preventing enforcement.
You can follow the processing of your request in MyTax: Go to the Tax matters tab, select Status of returns and requests and then View the processing status.
After your claim for adjustment is processed, you will be sent a decision on the matter in MyTax and to your home address by mail. Check the estimate on the processing time
More information and instructions for claiming
Yes, you must pay your taxes on their due date even if you have claimed adjustment. Interest for late payment is collected on unpaid taxes.
Call the Finnish Tax Administration’s service number +358 29 497 026 (Maksuliikenne) for the payment details. You can also check the details you need for making payments in MyTax: How to pay taxes in MyTax.
If you have difficulties paying your taxes by the due date, we recommend finding out whether you are eligible for a payment arrangement. Read more on requesting a payment arrangement
If your claim for adjustment is accepted and you have no other tax debt, the tax you paid in excess will be automatically refunded to you with interest.
A suspension of enforcement means that your taxes are not transferred to enforcement or that an already started enforcement is suspended for the time your claim for adjustment is processed. You can request for the suspension of enforcement either simultaneously with your claim for adjustment, or afterwards.
If you intend to pay the tax in full regardless of having claimed adjustment, we do not recommend requesting a suspension of enforcement.
If you request a suspension of enforcement, keep the following in mind:
- Late-payment interest will be collected on the tax for the duration of the suspension as well, i.e. starting from the original due date of the tax until the date you pay the tax.
- Tax refunds cannot be used towards back taxes during the suspension.
- You cannot obtain a tax debt certificate or a certificate of paid taxes during the suspension.
The suspension of enforcement can be full or partial.
The enforcement of a tax can be suspended in two ways:
- Full suspension: The taxes are not transferred to enforcement and your tax refunds or any payments you have made to the Finnish Tax Administration are not used.
- Partial suspension: Your tax refunds and any payments you have made to the Finnish Tax Administration can be used towards the payment of your taxes, the taxes can be transferred to enforcement and your other assets may be seized as well. However, the National Enforcement Authority may not sell the seized assets before your case is processed.
The enforcement of taxes can only be fully suspended if the unpaid taxes have not yet been transferred to the National Enforcement Authority.
If your claim for adjustment is rejected, your request for non-enforcement is rejected, as well. In this case, the unpaid tax can be transferred to enforcement. However, while your claim for adjustment is being processed, the National Enforcement Authority may not sell any seized property, a housing-company apartment, or shares in a jointly administered real estate.
You can cancel a claim for adjustment fully or partially. In MyTax, go to the ‘Tax matters’ tab. Select ‘Cancel a claim for adjustment’ under ‘Claims for adjustment’.
Yes, the Finnish Tax Administration can adjust your taxes on its own initiative after your tax assessment end date. This happens if the Tax Administration receives information afterwards that affects your taxation. As a result, you might receive tax refund, or it may be that you are ordered to pay more tax. Besides income taxes, the adjustments on the Tax Administration's initiative can concern income tax, real estate tax, value-added taxes, employer's contributions, and other types of taxes.
The Tax Administration can adjust your taxation within the same deadline that is applied to taxpayers’ claims for adjustment, i.e. within three years of the start of the tax year following the relevant tax year.
In some cases, the Tax Administration is allowed to extend the deadline by 1 year, and in some rare cases by 6 years.
The deadlines will also change in a situation where the need to adjust taxes is due to a criminal investigation process.
If you are unhappy with an adjustment made on the Tax Administration’s initiative, you can submit a claim for adjustment to request a review.
A decision on a claim for adjustment can be requested to be rectified by lodging an appeal to the administrative court. The deadline and instructions for appealing are in the appeal instructions appended to the decision.
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