Individuals’ residency and nonresidency in Finland
For tax purposes, people can be treated as persons either with unlimited tax liability (residents) or with limited tax liability (nonresidents).
What does residency mean?
You are fully liable to pay tax in Finland as a resident taxpayer if either one of these 2 descriptions match your circumstances:
- You live in Finland. In other words, Finland is where you have your primary place to live – your permanent home.
- You do not have your permanent home in Finland but you stay here for more than 6 months consecutively. For tax purposes, your stay is seen as consecutive and ongoing even if you leave Finland from time to time. No importance is attached to the reason for your presence.
Being a resident individual taxpayer, you pay tax to Finland on all the income you receive from sources in Finland and other countries.
For example, if you receive income from employment as you work in Finland, you need a Finnish tax card. Read more on Arriving in Finland to work here.
If you are a citizen of a foreign country, you cease to be a resident in Finland as soon as you leave the country.
What does non-residency mean?
If both of these 2 circumstances are true, you are a nonresident individual taxpayer:
- Your permanent home or primary place to live is not located in Finland.
- Your presence in Finland is only for max. 6 months.
If you stay for 6 months exactly, you are still considered a nonresident taxpayer.
As a nonresident you need to pay taxes to Finland only on the income you receive from Finland.
International treaties may affect your treatment
As you may be a person liable to pay tax to other countries, not only to Finland, the provisions of international tax treaties between Finland and other countries can have an impact on:
- The way taxes are imposed on your income.
- The way the authorities determine your country of residence for tax purposes.