19 Deduction for a second home for work ‒ Instructions

Use this form to claim a deduction for a second home for work in your taxation. A second home for work is a dwelling that you have rented for your personal use because your primary place of work is located more than 100 kilometres from your permanent residence. Primary place of work refers to the location where you work on a permanent basis.

If, during the year, you have more than one second home for work, fill in a separate form for each home.

You can provide the information either in MyTax or on the form available on the Form page. The return address is indicated on the first page of the form.

The deduction can be taken into account on your tax card

You can claim the deduction for a second home for work for your tax card or prepaid tax. It will then be taken into account in the withholding rate rather than retrospectively in the final tax assessment. Submit the relevant information at MyTax. You can, however, also apply for a change to your tax card by filling in the paper form, 5010e (Application for prepayment and/or for change in withholding tax percentage). In that case, enclose this form with the application.

You can also apply for tax credit retrospectively

You can also claim the deduction for a second home for work later, when you fill in the pre-completed tax return. In that case, provide the information in MyTax or return this form by the date indicated on the pre-completed tax return.

This form can also be used to submit a claim for adjustment of the deduction for a second home for work after the tax assessment has ended. Fill in a claim for adjustment (Form 3308) and attach this form to the claim.

Applications for a tax card, applications for tax prepayment and claim for adjustment forms can also be submitted via MyTax. Using MyTax eliminates the need for paper forms.

If you are making corrections to previously provided information or are claiming an adjustment, fill in all of the sections concerning the deduction for a second home for work.

What are the requirements for the deduction?

You will be granted the deduction for a second home for work if you meet all of the following requirements:

• You have rented the second home for work owing to the location of your primary place of work.
• The second home for work is a rental apartment, an employer-provided dwelling, a right-of-occupancy dwelling or a part-ownership dwelling. If you own the second home for work yourself, you are not entitled to the deduction.
• If you have a family, you have, in addition to a second home for work, a permanent residence which you occupy with your spouse or minor children.
• If you are a person without a family, you have two primary places of work and two separate apartments on account of the distance between these places of work.
• Your primary place of work is more than 100 kilometres from your permanent residence.
• Your second home for work is more than 100 kilometres from your permanent residence.

What is the maximum amount of the deduction?

The deduction for a second home for work is €450 per month. However, the deduction amount cannot exceed the amount of rent you pay for your second home. In 2018 and before, the maximum deduction was €250 per month. You are entitled to the deduction only in respect of the full calendar months during which you have used two dwellings (a permanent residence and a second home for work). The deduction for a second home for work is deducted as expenses incurred in acquiring or maintaining income.

Take into account that the Tax Administration first makes a formula based deduction for the production of income from your income. This deduction is €750 (but does not exceed the amount of your wage income). You may receive the deduction for a second home for work only if the deduction and your other expenses incurred in acquiring or maintaining income altogether exceed the formula based deduction for the production of income. You may then deduct the excess.

Other deductions relating to a second home for work may also be obtained in taxation. If you receive these, they will correspondingly reduce the deduction for a second home for work. An exception to this is the tax credit for domestic costs: it does not affect the deduction for a second home for work.

It is not possible for both spouses to receive the deduction for the same months. If you and your spouse claim the deduction for the same months, it will be granted in respect of those months only to the spouse with the higher earned income during the tax year, after deduction of expenses for acquiring and maintaining income.

Read more (in Finnish) about the deduction for a second home for work.

Contents:

1 Taxpayer identification and the tax year
2 Permanent residence (home)
3 Primary place of work
4 Second home for work and the related expenses
5 Benefits for second home for work

 1 Taxpayer identification and the tax year

Enter your name and personal identity code.

Indicate the tax year, i.e. the year for which you are claiming the deduction for a second home.

 2 Permanent residence (home)

2.1 Enter the exact address of your permanent residence: street address, postal code and city/town.

2.2 Tick the relevant box indicating whether you live in your permanent residence alone or with your family (spouse or minor children). For the purpose of taxation, you are regarded as a person without a family if you do not have a spouse or minor children, or you live apart from them permanently owing to a breakdown in the relationship.

Read more (in Finnish) about the effect of family on the deduction for a second home for work.

 3 Primary place of work

3.1 Enter the name of the employer in whose service you work and for the purpose of which you have rented the second home.

3.2 Enter the address of the place of work for the purpose which you have rented the second home for work. The place of work should be your primary place of work.

3.3 Indicate the distance between your primary place of work (section 3.2) and your permanent residence (section 2.1) in full kilometres. Calculate the distance over the shortest possible route along a public highway.

 4 Second home for work and the related expenses

4.1 Tick the relevant box indicating whether the second home for work is a rental apartment, an employer-provided dwelling, a right-of-occupancy dwelling or a part-ownership dwelling.

4.2 Enter the exact address of the second home for work.

4.3 Enter the name of the lessor. If you are renting an employer-provided dwelling, give the name of the employer who granted the employer-provided accommodation. If you are renting a right-of-occupancy dwelling, indicate the name of the building's owner.

4.4 Indicate the distance between your second home for work (section 4.2) and your permanent residence (section 2.1) in full kilometres. Calculate the distance over the shortest possible route along a public highway.

4.5 Tick the relevant box indicating that you are a person without a family (see section 2.2), but you need a second home for work because you have another primary place of work in a different locality.

4.6 Indicate the period during which the second home for work has been in your use. If the rent you pay on the dwelling or the fringe benefit value of the dwelling has varied during the year, indicate each period on a separate line. If the dwelling has not been used by you continuously but during several periods over the year, indicate the different periods of use on separate lines.

4.7 Indicate the number of full months in respect of each period separately. Only those calendar months during which the second home for work has been in your use for the whole calendar month entitle you to the deduction. If the second home for work has been in your use for only part of the month (e.g. from the 1st to the 20th or from the 10th to the 31st) you are not entitled to the deduction for that calendar month.

4.8 Indicate the monthly rent you pay on the second home for work. If you are renting shared accommodation, i.e. other tenants live in the dwelling, indicate only your share of the monthly rent. If you are renting an employer-provided dwelling, indicate the fringe benefit value of the dwelling or the rent you pay the employer.

If the residence is a right-of-occupancy dwelling or a part-ownership dwelling, indicate the amount of the maintenance charge you pay per month or the rent you pay on the dwelling per month.

4.9 Calculate the amount of the deduction for the second home for work in each line. If the amount entered in section 4.8 (monthly rent or other amount paid monthly) is more than €450, multiply the number in section 4.7 (number of full months) with €450. If the monthly rent is €450 or less, multiply the number of full months with the actual monthly rent. Starting in 2019, the maximum deduction is €450 per month. In previous years, the maximum deduction was €250 per month.

4.10 Indicate the annual amount of the deduction for the second home for work, i.e. add together the figures of the lines in column 4.9.

 5 Benefits for second home for work

You are not entitled to the deduction for a second home for work if you have been paid any tax-exempt allowance or benefit for your second home for work based on living in a locality other than where your home is located, for example, a tax-exempt housing allowance.

Date and sign the form. Give your daytime telephone number too.