Working for a foreign employer

If you go abroad to work for an employer who is from the country where you work, that country usually has the right to tax your pay. You still have to file a tax return to Finland. You must give the Finnish authorities complete details of all wages you earn in Finland and abroad even if not all of your wages are taxed in Finland. The tax assessment of your other types of income is usually not affected during the period when you work in another country. For example, if you have capital income, the taxes will continue to be payable in Finland.

Report your foreign-sourced and Finnish-sourced income on your tax return

Submit details in MyTax

If you do not use MyTax, you must fill out Form 16A, Statement on foreign income (earned income).

The pre-completed tax return – making corrections in MyTax or on paper

If the country where you work taxes your pay and the wages are not tax-exempt on the basis of the six-month rule, you can claim the elimination of double taxation in Finland. You can make this demand in MyTax or by completing Form 16B, Statement on foreign income 16A (earned income).

• You are required to report your foreign-sourced wages even in cases where the six-month rule is applicable.
• When a Finnish citizen leaves Finland for another country, they continue to be a tax resident of Finland during the calendar year when they leave and for three years after the end of that year.

Taxation of foreign-sourced income

If you work for a foreign employer who is from another state than the country where you work, your pay is usually taxed in Finland. If you stay in the country of work for more than 183 days, or approximately six months, that country may have the right to tax your pay. In different countries, the 183 days is calculated over either the calendar year or 12 consecutive months, according to the agreement on the calculation method in the tax treaty.

You should visit a local tax office in the country where you work to find out whether that country will tax your pay. Remember to also ask whether you must submit a tax return in the country where you work and when this must be done. Save all receipts and decisions related to pay and taxation you receive from your employer and the country where you work.

Foreign-sourced wages may be tax-exempt in Finland

In Finnish tax assessment, a provision known as the six-month rule may be applicable to your pay. According to this rule, you do not have to pay tax to Finland for wages earned in a foreign country. The six-month rule can be applied if all of the following conditions are met:

• Your stay in the country where you work is based on work-related reasons, and you are staying for at least 6 months.
• On average, you spend less than 6 days in Finland each month.
• The bilateral tax treaty between Finland and the country of work imposes no restrictions that would prevent the country of work from collecting tax on your wage income.

Test for the application of the six-month rule (pdf, in Finnish)