How to report rental income and pay tax on it
Do you receive rental income? Do you rent out a home, a motor vehicle, other personal property? All rental income and expenses of renting must be reported. You must do so although it might be that your rental income has been low, and after deductible expenses you have little or no income subject to tax.
Report 2023 rental income on your tax return in spring
You receive a pre-completed tax return in spring 2024. It is important to check all the pre-filled amounts and data on it.
- If after checking the tax return, you are satisfied that both income and expenses are pre-filled as they should be, you do not need to provide any further comment.
- However, if no information on your 2023 rental income is included or if corrections must be made, please give full details and updated rental income and expenses to the Tax Administration.
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First, go to the Individual income tax section and select Pre-completed tax return 2023, then click the link Check your pre-completed tax return.
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Click Make corrections to the pre-completed tax return.
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The tax return has 5 stages. If you make changes to your tax return, you can send it at Preview and send, which is the last stage of the tax return. Scroll down the page and click Submit.
This section is for the rental income you have received for offering e.g. the following types of assets for rent:
- apartment(s) in a housing company
- real estate property
- timeshares related to vacation homes
- cars, caravans, boats
- machinery or equipment.
It is necessary to report the details on your rental operations although it might be that your rental income has been low, and after the related deductible expenses, you have little or no income subject to tax. The related expenses can also be claimed here. See a list of expenses that can be deducted from rental income.
If you own only a certain part of the rental property, you should report income reflecting the size of the part that you own. Fill in your part of the rental income, and only your share of the deductible expenses related to the rental operation.
If you have previously informed the Tax Administration of your rental income when requesting a tax card or when completing another tax return or if you have paid rental-related prepayments, there may be a pre-filled amount on your tax return. Check all the entries, and if anything is missing, make corrections as appropriate.
Note: Any rental income you have had from a source outside of Finland must be reported under the Foreign income section. Information on any rental income relating to an agricultural farm must be reported on the tax return for agriculture. This income includes the rental income you may receive from renting out a field.
Did you use a platform, an app, a website to rent out property to guests and tenants? The Tax Administration receives information concerning the income paid to you through digital platforms both in Finland and abroad. The Tax Administration requires that you report all this income, and we also exercise control. Remember to fill in the tax return giving details on your income and related expenses, because these may be missing from the pre-completed tax return.
How to file in MyTax
The Pre-completed income and deductions stage contains the information made available to the Tax Administration on your rental income. If you make corrections, select the link for the rented-out property. Edit the necessary details.
If only some of the rental income is shown, add the missing income by clicking the Add new rental income button.
If no rental income is pre-completed, got to the Other income stage. Select Yes in the Rental income section and click the Add new rental income link.
- Select the type of property and assets you have rented out.
- Enter more detailed information on an apartment, for example. Note that you can only report the details of one apartment at a time.
- Report all the tenants who have rented this property during the year.
- Enter the rental income and expenses of this particular property in their respective fields.
- Click OK.
If you have received rental income from other sources as well, click Add new rental income again.
If you make depreciations on the acquisition costs for buildings, furniture, appliances and other movable property, report the information in the Calculation of depreciation section, which is visible in MyTax only in case your rental property is real estate or other rental property. Read more about depreciation expenses
Further information
How to file on paper
Select a correct form:
How to report the ongoing year’s rental income in 2024
There are two alternative ways to report rental income and pay tax on it in advance, before the year has ended:
- One option is to ask for a revised tax card, on which the Tax Administration will adjust your withholding rate by reference to your estimated rental income and expenses. For most property owners, this means that you pay tax on the rental income when your employer withholds a higher amount of money from your wages every month.
- The other option is to ask for a calculation of income-tax prepayment. You will then have to pay the amounts according to the Tax Administration’s calculation. In general, this means that you pay advance income tax in 2 to 12 instalments during the ongoing year. If you choose this option, the Tax Administration will send you invoices and instructions for payment.
If you choose neither one of the two options, you will have to report the income when the year when you received it is over, filling in your pre-completed tax return. Then you’ll need to pay the capital-income taxes based on rental income afterwards, in the form of a back tax.
Instructions for getting a tax card and for requesting a prepayment calculation
You can log in to MyTax at any time to enter information on the rental income you get during 2024. In spring 2025, the IT system will retrieve the amounts and transfer them to your pre-completed tax return.
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Go to the Individual income tax section, select Tax card and prepayments 2024 and click the Tax cards and prepayments link.
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Click Request a new tax card.
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Next, click the button that says Select the complete tax card request.
When you move on to the Rental income section you can select whether you pay the tax in the form of prepayments or in the form of a higher withholding rate on this year’s tax card.
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The Background stage:
Check that your details are correct.
If your details exist in the Tax Administration records, they are shown under Contact details of person giving further information. If someone else provides further information about the request, enter their contact details.
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The Pre-completed income and deductions stage:
You can see the details on the income and deductions based on which your current tax card has been calculated. You can make corrections to details in this stage. If you have had previous rental income, also report the new rental income in this stage.
If you are reporting rental income for the first time, move on to the Other income stage.
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The Other income stage:
First, click Yes in the Rental income section and then click Add new rental income.
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Select the type of property you have rented out.
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Enter more detailed information on an apartment, for example. Note that you can only report the details of one apartment at a time.
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Give details on each tenant who is renting the same rental unit.
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Report the rental income and expenses in their respective fields.
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If you receive rental income from a real estate unit or other property, you can claim depreciation. Click Calculation of depreciation. Then click Add new depreciation. Give the depreciation details.
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Click OK.
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If you receive rental income from other sources as well, report each rental unit separately by clicking the Add new rental income link again.
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Next, select whether you wish to pay tax prepayments on the rental income or whether you want the taxes to be taken into account in the tax rate indicated on your tax card.
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The Other deductions stage:
Report deductions, if any: Click Yes at the relevant deduction. After this, you can give more detailed information.
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The Delivery method stage:
If you selected prepayment, go to Preview and send.
If you selected tax card:
- Enter the date from which your new tax card is valid.
- Select whether you want your tax card to be delivered
- only electronically to MyTax
- to MyTax and by post to your home
- to MyTax and straight to the payor.
If you select the last option, you must then enter the payor’s address and other details.
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The Preview and send stage:
First, make sure all the details are correct. Click Edit or Previous to make corrections. In this stage, you will also see any prepayment instalments.
When everything is correct, click Submit. After this, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt.
Keep good records and store the receipts
Please store the documents and receipts concerning your rental activities and only send them to the Tax Administration if you are requested to do so. No receipts should be paperclipped to the back of a tax form that you are submitting. In general, do not send a receipt unless the Tax Administration has asked for the receipt.
Keep good records of your rentals including all the facts and documents required for tax purposes. The required period of storage is 6 years. The start date of the 6-year period is the date when the tax year ends.