Income taxes for rental income
Rental income belongs to the estate in situations where the estate has rented out an apartment or a house (or rented out other property).
The estate has to
- Request a Tax Administration’s decision concerning income-tax prepayments;
- Pay the prepayments in conformance with the Tax Administration’s decision; and
- Complete the estate’s pre-completed tax return the following spring, making sure the rental income is reported as it should.
Almost always, to submit a prepayment request and to submit information for the pre-completed tax return, paper tax forms must be used. Only the estates of deceased persons that have a Business ID and also have an authorised agent using a Suomi.fi authorisation can log in to MyTax to send the forms and information electronically.
When you complete the forms, fill in the estate’s name as the party that submits the form (not your name). If the estate has appointed no authorised agent, it is necessary to ask all the estate’s shareholders to put their signatures on the forms. Please send the forms by post to the address stated on the form.
How to request a prepayment decision
Fill in the paper form indicating the estate’s revenue and tax-deductible expenditure. The form’s every page must contain the decedent’s personal identity code or Business ID.
In addition to the prepayment form, you must also complete and enclose the appropriate income-reporting form:
- 7H Rental income – apartment in a housing company
- 7K Rental income – real estate
- 7L Rental income – other property
Give details on the rental income in the pre-completed tax return
If the rental income is not showing on the estate’s pre-completed tax return the following spring, please submit a paper form to send the appropriate information. Make corrections as necessary.
Report rental income on your tax return
Instructions for those who submit paper-printed tax forms – the pre-completed tax return
In case of transfer of ownership from the estate to an inheritor
Tax reporting and tax treatment of rental income will change when the estate’s assets are divided but the tenant’s rental contract remains in effect.
After ownership is transferred from the estate to an inheritor, here is how to deal with tax reporting:
- The estate must submit information to the Tax Administration concerning the changes in the estate’s rental income, asking the Tax Administration to relieve the estate from its obligation to make prepayments. The deadline for the above information is the date when the Tax Administration finishes the estate’s tax assessment for the year. The forms to fill out are the request form for a prepayment decision and the form the estate has used for reporting its rental income, i.e. the same forms that were submitted previously. For links for downloading the forms, see the bottom of this page.
- The new owner must include the rental income in his or her personal income subject to tax. For example, if an apartment or house has been transferred to you by inheritance, so you are the new owner, you can log in to MyTax to submit an application form for a tax card or for prepayments and give full details on the rental income. For instructions, see How to report rental income and pay tax on it
Your deadline to give details on the rental income is the time when the estate’s pre-completed tax return falls due, concerning the calendar year when the estate stopped receiving rental income or the year when there were other changes. Along with the tax reporting of the estate, we recommend that you make sure that your personal pre-completed tax return also contains the correct amounts of income that you receive from your newly acquired rental property.