Requirements for the tax credit for household expenses

You can claim the credit for household expenses if you pay for work such as cleaning, child care, renovation, or computer installation. You can also claim the credit for work done at a holiday home that you own. 

What kind of work entitles you to the credit?

You can claim the credit for household expenses for the following types of work:

• renovations
• cleaning and other household work
• nursing and caregiving

Read more about what types of work entitle you to the credit for household expenses

Credit is only granted for the part of the total expense that was paid for work. You cannot get the credit for other costs, such as equipment or travel expenses. 

You can only get the credit if the work was done by a third party. If you did the work yourself, or if the person who did the work lives in the same household as you, you cannot get the credit. 

Where must household work be done?

You are entitled to the credit when you have had work done

• in your home
• in your holiday home
• in your parents’ or grandparents’ home.

It does not matter whether you own or rent the property where the work is done.

Note: Only the resident of a property can claim a tax credit for domestic services. In other words, landlords cannot claim a tax credit for domestic services on the basis of renovation costs incurred from their let properties. The costs of renovations in let properties can be deducted from rental income.

An estate of a deceased person can also claim credit for household expenses. Estates can only claim the credit for the year when the person passed away. Housing companies cannot be granted the tax credit.

Parents cannot claim the credit for work done in their children’s home.

Company must be registered for prepayment

When you hire a company to work in your home, the company must be in the prepayment register. If the company is not registered for prepayment, you cannot claim the tax credit for any work the company does in your home.

Check that the company is in the prepayment register before you hire them. Do not sign a contract with the company until you are sure that they are registered for prepayment.

You can check the company’s registration on the Business Information System (ytj.fi). You can search for the company by its name or by its Business ID. The company must be in the prepayment register at the time when you enter into the contract with them. If they are, you can get the credit for household expenses. It does not matter if the company is later removed from the register.

You can also get the credit if the work was done by a non-profit organisation. In this case, the party doing the work does not need to be in the prepayment register.

Benefits affect the credit

You cannot get the tax credit for household expenses if you receive some of the following benefits for the same purpose:

• family care support
• child home care allowance
• private day care allowance
• financial support for renovations from State funds or from funds of another public body
• voucher for social and health care services granted by your municipality
• pay subsidy for wage payments made by a household

• energy subsidy from ARA (The Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland)

• financial support for renovations from the Centre for Economic Development related to the move away from oil heating in a family house.

If you have received a service voucher or the like from your wellbeing services county or the city of Helsinki for the work in question, you are not entitled to the tax credit for household expenses, not even as regards the portion you have paid yourself. If you have a service voucher or the like, no tax credit can be granted to you – irrespective of whether you use the voucher or not. 

Tax credit for household expenses is not granted for services offered by your municipality, apart from certain exceptional circumstances. You cannot get the credit if your payment goes to the municipality or city, even if the work itself was done by a company or another third party, such as a sheltered housing community.

You cannot get the credit for expenses that are also covered by your insurance company.

Do this if you submitted an application for public subsidies but the public authority has not made a decision yet:

1. Keep waiting for the official decision on public financial support.
2. If they pay you the subsidy and you receive it for your household project, no credit for household expenses can be given.
3. If they reject your application, see instructions: How to request the tax credit for household expenses.