Submit a tax return on an inheritance you have received from abroad
You must submit an inheritance tax return to the Tax Administration before 3 months have elapsed after the decedent has passed away. Please note that you will have to submit the return by the 3-month deadline even if the estate is still undistributed.
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1. Ask for extension if needed
If within the 3-month period after the date of death, you cannot obtain enough details concerning the inheritance, you can ask for an extension of time for submitting the return. Often, the details are difficult to obtain because the assets left behind by the decedent are still not inventoried in the other country by the time when the Finnish tax return must be filed.
When there are several inheritors, every one of them must submit a written request for extension of time before 3 months have elapsed after the decedent has passed.
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2. Fill out the inheritance tax return form
Submit the inheritance tax return in MyTax. After login, select the Tax matters tab – Activities relating to inheritance tax – Inheritance tax return for foreign inheritance.
If MyTax cannot be utilised for submitting the return, complete the inheritance tax return using your computer workstation, and then print it out on paper.
If you do not have all the information yet and you cannot apply for an extension of time, you can simply use the information that you have, and submit the inheritance tax return as temporarily incomplete. Add an enclosed document to indicate that certain details cannot be included yet.
Later, you can add more details. You are entitled to add details in several reprises. You can do so at any time until you receive the Tax Administration’s decision on the inheritance tax. Typical details submitted later include a deed of estate distribution, a deed of sale concerning immovable property/an apartment. Do not forget to indicate your full name and address as the sender of the information whenever you add more details.
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3. Submit photocopies of the relevant documents
Enclose photocopies of the following documents if relevant:
- A foreign document, depicting the state of affairs at the date of death: an inventory or a list similar to a Finnish deed of inventory, of the assets and liabilities left behind.
- If the decedent’s spouse died earlier, a document equivalent to the above concerning the assets and liabilities that the deceased spouse had left behind.
- The will or testament left by the decedent.
- The estate’s deed of distribution if the estate is distributed by this time.
- The spouses’ prenuptial agreement, if any.
- A calculation, within the meaning of marital property law, outlining an amount of money payable to the surviving spouse or to the estate.
- Deed(s) of sale, if the estate’s assets are sold.
- If available, a property appraisal, received from a real estate agent or other expert, to appraise the fair market value of the immovable property at the decedent’s date of death.
- A foreign authority’s decision on inheritance taxes or estate taxes, together with enclosed documents/receipts for proof of tax payment.
- Other documentation regarding any issues relevant to the death estate or to the heirs’ portions.
Please send photocopies of the above documents to the Tax Administration and keep the originals for yourself. If a document is not made out in Finnish or Swedish, enclose a Finnish or Swedish translation. The translation must be made by an authorised translator or alternatively, the translated documents should contain some other proof of the translations’ reliability.
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4. File your return in good time
If you cannot submit the return through MyTax, send it to the Tax Administration by letter. Make sure of timely delivery within the original due date or an extended due date. Inheritance tax returns must arrive at the Tax Administration before 3 months have elapsed after the foreign-resident deceased person has passed away.
In Finland, send the return to:
Verohallinto
Perintö- ja lahjaverotus
PL 760
00052 VERO
From outside Finland, send the return to:
Finnish Tax Administration – Verohallinto
Inheritance and Gift Tax (Perintö- ja lahjaverotus)
PO Box 760
FI-00052 VERO
If your inheritance tax return is late you may be required to pay a late-filing penalty or a punitive tax increase.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes. The obligation to submit a report on an inheritance also applies to inheritances of less than €20,000 in value.
The rate to be used is the average exchange rate that was valid on the deceased person’s date of death, or the average exchange rate on the date closest to it. Convert other currencies into euros before entering them into the inheritance tax return.
Each inheritor must file a claim for adjustment individually because all decisions on inheritance tax are directed toward the individual inheritor personally. You can submit the claim when you have received the Tax Administration’s decision.
You will continue to be entitled to submit a claim for 3 years from the end of the tax year. For purposes of inheritance taxation, ‘tax year’ means the calendar year of the decedent’s date of death. Always check the time limit for claiming adjustment in the instructions for appeal, which you will find enclosed with the inheritance tax decision.
Read more: Claim for adjustment of inheritance tax