Working in the European Union, the United Nations or in Finland's foreign mission
These instructions are for individuals who work abroad as a member of the European Parliament or an official of the European Union, in the United Nations or its specialised agency, or in a Finnish mission abroad. Finnish missions include embassies and consulates, for example.
Working in the European Union
f you work for the European Union, your taxation depends on the type of job you have and on whether you live in Finland or elsewhere.
If you live in Finland, the MEP fee paid to you by the European Parliament is subject to tax in Finland. If you have also paid tax on your income to the European Union, the double taxation will be eliminated in Finland: the tax you have paid to the European Union will be deducted from the Finnish tax.
Read more: Elimination of double taxation
If the conditions of the 6-month rule are met, the MEP fee may be exempt from tax in Finland. The 6-month rule means that you live abroad because of your work for at least 6 months and that certain other, more detailed conditions are also met.
Read more about the 6-month rule: Working for a foreign employer
Do as follows if your wages are subject to tax in Finland, i.e. if the conditions of the 6-month rule are not met.
Go to MyTax and request prepayment under Foreign income, Earned income from work on which the 6-month rule is not applied. Alternatively, you can request tax prepayment on paper by filling in Form 5010e. If you use the paper form, file the remuneration you have received from the European Union on Form 16A.
Enter ‘Other country’ in the Country of employment and Employer’s home country fields, and ‘EU Parliament’ in the Employer field.
Answer Yes to ‘Do you have an A1/E101 certificate issued in Finland or a Kela decision on eligibility for Finnish social security?’
Also file your wages on the tax return
- File wages in MyTax or on Form 16A in section Details on foreign earned income and Work on which the 6-month rule is not applied, or Details on foreign earned income and Work on which the 6-month rule is applied.
- Enter ‘EU Parliament’ as the employer's name and ‘Other country’ as the employer's home country and the country of employment.
- Answer Yes to ‘Are you covered by the Finnish social security system?’
If you work as an official in the European Union, you do not pay tax on the wages you receive from the EU to Finland but to the European Union. You do not need to file such wages on the Finnish tax return unless the Tax Administration specifically requests you to do so.
Working in the UN or its specialised agency
If you work for the United Nations (UN) or its specialised agency, your taxation depends on your job.
If you work as an official in the United Nations, you do not pay tax on the wages you receive from the UN to Finland. UN officials pay an internal tax in the UN. You do not need to be file such wages on the Finnish tax return unless the Tax Administration specifically requests you to do so.
If you work as a specialist in the UN or its specialised agency and work abroad, you do not pay tax on the wages you receive to Finland. If you work remotely from Finland, however, the wages you receive are taxed normally in Finland.
Do as follows
Prepayment:
If you work remotely from Finland for the whole period or for part of the period, request prepayments for the wages you receive for working in Finland. Estimate the portion of wages paid to you for working in Finland during the tax year. You can request prepayments in MyTax or on paper by filling in Form 5010e (Application for tax card and/or tax prepayment):
How to request prepayment in MyTax
Tax return:
File the wages you have received for working in Finland on the tax return. You can file the information in MyTax or on Form 50A, under Wages, salaries, fees and compensation.
Working in a Finnish mission abroad
If you are a Finnish citizen and work in a Finnish mission abroad as a posted employee, you are a resident taxpayer in Finland, which means that you pay tax on all your income to Finland. The wages you receive from the mission while working there are subject to tax in Finland.
If you work in the mission as a locally hired employee, i.e. you have been hired directly from the country in which the mission is located, you are usually liable to pay tax only to the country in question. A precondition is that you live in the country and fulfil one of the following conditions:
- You are a citizen of the country of work
- You lived permanently in the country of work for another reason before you started working for the mission.
Always check the tax treaty between Finland and the country of work
Do as follows:
Request a tax card on Form 6207a (available in Finnish and Swedish) or in MyTax: select the Tax matters tab, go to Applications and click Tax-at-source card or tax card abroad.
You will receive a pre-completed tax return from the Finnish Tax Administration in the spring. Check the information on the tax return.
Read more about the pre-completed tax return
Further information
Taxation of income from international organisations, the EU and diplomatic missions