An authorisation makes it easier to manage the estate’s taxes
The Tax Administration recommends that the parties to the estate authorise an agent. It is easier to manage the death estate’s taxes, and the person who has become the authorised agent will receive all the tax correspondence. If you are the only inheritor of the deceased person, you do not need an authorisation.
Even though the person reporting for the estate and the contact person for inheritance taxation are specified in the deed of estate inventory, they or individual shareholders are not directly entitled to take care of the estate’s tax matters.
The estate’s tax matters can be managed either by all the shareholders together or by a person authorised by the shareholders. Even if the deceased person had authorised someone to take care of their tax matters during their lifetime or if they had a guardian, the authorisation is no longer valid after the person has passed away.
Complete the form for appointing an authorised agent
It is always necessary to submit a completed paper form to grant authorisation to an agent. All the shareholders of the estate must sign the letter of authorisation. Please note that the authorisation only concerns the death estate’s affairs related to taxes (not the estate’s other affairs).
Authorisation for taking care of an estate's tax matters (Form 3630) (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)
What does the ‘authorisation’ mean?
After authorisation, the person is:
- Entered in the Tax Administration’s taxpayer database as the estate’s authorised agent.
- After that, the authorised agent’s address is where all the estate’s tax mail is delivered.
- The agent can inform the Tax Administration of the estate’s contact information and bank account number.
- The agent can call the Tax Administration’s telephone service or visit a tax office to deal with the estate’s taxes.
- The agent can handle tax information on the estate’s behalf − including making corrections to the estate’s pre-completed tax return.
- However, the agent cannot use MyTax or other Tax Administration e-services on the estate’s behalf.
If the estate appoints no agent
If the estate grants no authorisation to anyone – neither with the paper form nor via Suomi.fi – to become the estate’s authorised agent:
- When there is no agent, we send the estate’s tax correspondence to the contact person named in the deed of estate inventory. The address that we use is that person’s address, which was in effect at the time when the deed was delivered to the Tax Administration.
- The estate’s shareholders must assume responsibility for keeping the address information up to date. If the contact person moves house and their address is changed, the address information in the Tax Administration’s database is not automatically updated.
- When there is no agent, letters of authorisation must be requested one-by-one from all parties to the estate whenever a single item is dealt with, like the submittal of the estate’s bank account number for receiving a tax refund.
Both a Business ID and Suomi.fi authorisation are needed for e-services
Using the Tax Administration’s electronically provided services requires that the deceased person’s estate has a Business ID from before. This means that an estate cannot apply for a Business ID only to start using the e-services.
The estate has a Business ID if its previous activities have included an operation of trade or business, an agricultural operation or a forestry operation. For example, if the deceased person was a self-employed individual with a company name, a Business ID exists by virtue of the self-employment.
If you want to use the Tax Administration’s e-services to take care of the estate’s taxes, you need a Suomi.fi authorisation. The shareholders of the estate must log in to Suomi.fi one-by-one to give you the authorisation.