Tax based on a vehicle’s period of use

You can claim a reduction of the full amount of car tax if the vehicle has been taken into taxable use in Finland for the first time and it is not and will not be entered in the traffic register.

Submit the claim to the Tax Administration within one year from the due date of the vehicle’s first car tax. If you do not submit the claim by the deadline, no reduction will be granted.

File a claim for tax based on the period of use in MyTax

When you have filed the claim, you must stop using the vehicle.

Enclose a document providing evidence that your motor vehicle will not be registered in the future. Such a document may be:

• Photocopy of a deed of sale or other contract, indicating that a buyer in a foreign country has bought your vehicle.
• Certificate of registration, issued by the authorities of a foreign country, indicating that a foreign registration is in effect.
• Documentation to prove that your car/vehicle is scrapped as an end-of-life vehicle or that it has been destroyed due to some other reason.
• Documentation to prove that after major damage, the insurance company has written off the entire vehicle.
• Statement issued by an inspection station proving that your vehicle could not be registered any more even if it were repaired.

Your claim must also contain the following: the odometer reading at end of use, the last day of use in Finland, and the VIN number. If the vehicle has any individual automotive features that are significant, enclose a written account describing these features in detail. 

The Tax Administration can grant a reduction during the tax assessment process.

If the tax assessment has already been completed, the Tax Administration adjusts the assessment and issues a new tax decision that includes a reduction based on the vehicle’s period of use. If a registration permit has been granted, the Tax Administration cancels the permit.

The reduction may be granted only when tax is imposed on the vehicle for the first time. If tax has been imposed on the vehicle in Finland previously, no reduction is granted even if the vehicle will not be registered in Finland. This also applies to situations where the car tax has been imposed for another taxpayer.

Amount of reduction

The amount of reduction is the amount of tax that would be imposed on the vehicle on the last day of use. However, the amount of tax imposed is always at least 5 per cent of the full tax.