Tax Numbers in use 1 September 2012
Tax Administration Bulletin, 7/2/2012
Everyone working on building sites must have an individual Tax Number as of 1 September 2012 displayed on a name tag featuring their photo. There will be a transition period extending up to 1 March 2013 for the sites that have begun operations before 1 September 2012. But if construction begins in September 2012 or later, name tags must be worn immediately.
Individual Tax Numbers have already been distributed to Finns in connection with the deliveries of the 2012 tax cards (In Finnish: verokortti; in Swedish: skattekort).
Self-employed individuals must apply for the Tax Number at the local tax office.
Foreign construction workers who arrive in Finland to work for a temporary period must visit any tax office to request a Finnish personal identity code and their Tax Number starting 1 June 2012. However, if the estimated length of stay in Finland is longer than one year, the Local Register Office (www.maistraatti.fi) will issue the Finnish personal identity code (not the tax office). After the worker has received the personal identity code he or she can visit any tax office to enquire of the Tax Number.
Employers can officially request the Tax Administration to list all their workers' Tax Numbers. They can send a list of their workers' Finnish personal identity codes to the Finnish Tax Administration and ask for the individual Tax Numbers. In response to such requests the Finnish Tax Administration will send the employer company a list of their workers' Tax Numbers. Employers can also request the Tax Administration to enter the workers in the public TN register at the same time.
Public TN register will open in August 2012
Starting 1 August 2012, information on all the individual TNs and other registered data on all the construction workers concerned will be entered in a new public register. As of August, anyone will be entitled to search and check up on an individual's name and its correspondence with a TN, in other words, whether the data on a construction worker is tax-registered or not.
When the TN is issued it does not automatically mean that the worker is entered in the public TN register. You have to request for registration. When a construction-industry employer submits an electronically filed request for more than 20 workers and TNs, the Tax Administration will enter the workers concerned in the public TN register when processing the request.
Changes planned for the second stage in 2013
For 2013, a new reporting procedure has been planned to facilitate the capture of up-to-date information on construction workers and contracts. This procedure calls for the main contractors to file monthly reports to the Tax Administration listing all the workers and other recipients of compensation who are currently working on the sites. It also requires all subcontractors to give details on their employees to the main contractor, who then submits the information forward to the Tax Administration.
The Finnish Tax Administration utilizes the captured information for tax monitoring purposes. The information also supports the official appraisal of the tax status and tax-registration needs of some taxpayers. More information on the second stage will be released later in 2012 when the government proposal has been approved.
www.tax.fi/taxnumber