Application for refund of car tax – how to fill out the form
Use this form for requesting refund for a vehicle, which upon its first registration was entered into the Finnish register as a vehicle subject to reduced car tax, or as exempted from car tax, but car tax was imposed on it in full. Vehicle types subject to reduced tax or exemption include a school taxi, an accessible taxi, a rescue vehicle, an ambulance. You can also use this form to request refund if you had paid full car tax on a van in a situation where the van is actually subject to reduced tax.
Applications for refunds must be filed within 6 months from the vehicle’s first registration in Finland’s register of motor vehicles.
Complete and send the application in MyTax. First go to Tax matters, and then click Activities relating to car tax under Car tax. Select Refund of car tax based on export, tax exemption, or reduced tax.
If necessary, you can use the paper form Application for refund of car tax (Form 1214).
Read more about requesting refund based on exemption from car tax or reduced car tax.
1 Taxpayer
Enter the name of the person liable to pay car tax. This person is generally the vehicle’s registered owner in accordance with your (Finnish) vehicle registration documents. Please note the following exceptions:
- The tax liability will fall on the buyer entered in the register as the vehicle’s holder, not owner, if you pay for the vehicle in instalments, i.e. through hire-purchase.
- If the vehicle was entered into taxable service before its Finnish vehicle registration had been completed, liability to car tax will fall on the operator that entered it into service.
- If the car tax return for the vehicle was submitted before registration, and before the vehicle was placed in taxable operation, liability to car tax will fall on the party that submitted the return.
Personal ID or Business ID
Enter the identity code for the party liable to car tax. If he or she has no Finnish personal identity code, enter the date of birth. If the party is a corporate entity (=a legal person), enter its Business ID. The format for the Business ID is 1234567-8.
Please note: If you are a self-employed person operating a trade or business (T:mi), enter your personal identity code. Although you may have been issued a Business ID for your trade or business, do not enter that Business ID in this space. For purposes of car taxation, if the party liable to pay the tax is a business enterprise, it must be an incorporated company, i.e. a legal person. If you are self-employed, you are not a legal person although you are treated as having a “company”. The authorities treat you as a private individual when issuing you the decision on car tax.
2 Representative (fill in if necessary)
If you have assigned someone else as an agent or representative, enter the name and personal identity code or Business ID here. If the representative has no Finnish personal ID, enter his or her date of birth. If the representative is a corporate entity (=a legal person), enter its Business ID. The format for the Business ID is 1234567-8.
Please note: If the representative signs the application form on your behalf, the representative’s letter of authorisation (power of attorney) must be enclosed. However, if the representative is an attorney-at-law or a public legal adviser, they do not need to be authorised with a letter of authorisation for tax representation.
3 Vehicle
This section is for detailed information on the vehicle for which you are requesting refund. To locate the information for this section, you can refer to the vehicle’s documentation, the certificate of conformity – CoC – or to its foreign or Finnish registration papers.
Make
This line is for the vehicle’s make, i.e. the name of the company that produces the vehicle.
Model
This line is for the vehicle’s model name.
Vehicle identification number, VIN
Enter the VIN in this space. The VIN is an individualised string of numbers and letters to identify motor vehicles. You can find the VIN of a registered vehicle on its registration certificate.
Enter the VIN in the same format. In general, VINs consist of 17 characters including special characters. For EC/EU type-approved vehicles, the three letters I, O and Q are not allowed in a VIN so as to not confuse them with digits. The character-length limit and the above restriction against certain letters of the alphabet does not apply to the VINs of other than EC/EU approved vehicles. This way, if your vehicle is imported from the USA, Japan or a number of other countries, it may have a VIN that contains an I, O or Q.
Variant
Version
Fill in your vehicle’s variant and version in accordance with what is recorded on the official documents of the vehicle. “Variant” and “version” refer to basic technical characteristics including the fuel that the engine runs on, the engine’s displacement, power rating, and the vehicle’s or car’s body style. You can find the variant and version in the documentation. For example, the version is stated on the registration inspection certificate under D.2.
Finnish registration number
Date of first registration
Use the ddmmyyyy format. The first registration date of a vehicle is the day when the vehicle was registered for the first time, either in a foreign country or in Finland.
This date is important because it establishes the vehicle’s age for purposes of car taxation. The counting of time is based on full months, starting from the date of first registration. If the date is not known, you can establish the vehicle’s age by reference to the end date of the month of manufacture. If the month when the vehicle was manufactured cannot be ascertained, age must be determined by the probable year of first registration, of first entry into service, or of manufacture (enter the end date of the year concerned). The goal is to find out the vehicle’s age up to the point of time when the obligation to pay Finnish car tax arose. The obligation is deemed to have arisen when the vehicle was registered, or entered into taxable service in Finland, or on the date when the car tax return for the vehicle was filed.
Date of vehicle registration in Finland
Enter the date when the vehicle was registered in Finland (ddmmyyyy).
Odometer reading (km)
Fill in the kilometres, shown on the odometer on the date when the vehicle was registered in Finland. As some imported vehicles have an odometer in miles, please convert the reading: 1 mile = 1.6093 kilometres. If the reading is not right, i.e. does not show actual kilometres or mileage, add an enclosed document to provide a clarification on the matter.
Vehicle category
Please indicate the vehicle category, valid for its vehicle registration.
If the category is “van”, you will also need to complete the form’s section 4.
Car tax on a van is reduced if the following requirements are satisfied:
- The van’s gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is above 2500 kg
- Seating consists of no more than 3 seats – only the driver’s seat and the seats next to it
- The van’s load capacity: either one of the two conditions below must be satisfied:
- capacity (= difference between GVWR and unladen weight) is at least 680 kg but less than 1000 kg and the quotient of the power (kW) and the GVWR (kg) is no more than 0.05.
- capacity is at least 1000 kg and the quotient of power and GVWR is no more than 0.06.
Load capacity means the highest allowed load of goods and passengers.
Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is the unladen weight and the capacity combined. This indicates the maximum permissible weight of a loaded vehicle on the road.
If your vehicle is a van subject to reduced tax, select Eligible for tax reduction. If your vehicle is a van and it will be registered for special tax-exempt use, indicate the special use as appropriate.
If your vehicle does not meet the requirements of a van subject to reduced tax, tick the “Subject to full tax” box.
Read more about the amount of car tax
Power (=the engine type)
Select the appropriate option. If your vehicle runs on a fuel that is not listed here, you should tick "Other" and provide further information as appropriate.
Plug-in hybrid vehicle (select Yes or No)
If the vehicle’s engines are powered by gasoline/petrol and electricity – or diesel fuel and electricity – state whether the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, PHEV, that can be charged using an outlet or a charger set.
Car body style
Select the appropriate option. If you have a motor vehicle with a body style not listed here, you should tick "Other" and provide further information as appropriate.
Drive type
Select the appropriate option.
Transmission
This selection is normally between automatic and standard (=manual). However, if your vehicle has a transmission that integrates both parts of an automatic and manual transmission, or if your vehicle is a full electric vehicle, tick the box for automatic.
Cylinder capacity (cm3)
Enter the engine displacement in cubic centimetres (cm3).
Engine power (kW)
Indicate the power rating in kilowatts (kW). As the documentation for some vehicles only shows the horsepower rating (in DIN horsepower), please convert it: one kilowatt equals 1.36 hp and one DIN horsepower equals 0.735 kW.
Electric car's battery capacity (kWh)
Indicate the capacity in kilowatt-hours if the vehicle is an EV, electric vehicle.
Gross vehicle weight (kg)
The gross vehicle weight rating, GVWR, is the maximum permissible weight of a loaded vehicle in kilograms in accordance with factory documentation.
Basis for CO2 value
Select the appropriate option. If the technical data for your vehicle indicates measurement of CO2 values “by WLTP”, select WLTP. If the value was determined by some other method, select NEDC/other. If no CO2 value is available, leave the space blank and on the next line, select No carbon dioxide value.
The WLTP is a widespread testing method for vehicles placed into service 1 September 2018 or later. Previously, the usual method was NEDC, valid for older vehicles. It is possible that – in accordance with the rules of the EU Commission Regulation 183/2011 (CARB) – your motor vehicle’s CO2 emissions value was based on technical calculations, etc.
If needed, check the testing method with the importer or with the inspection station.
CO2 emissions (g/km)
This space is for the CO2 emissions value. Your vehicle’s EU or EC type approval’s carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) value determines its rate of car tax. You can find the emissions value in a registration certificate or certificate of conformity (CoC) issued in an EU or EEA country.
Please note that the carbon dioxide (CO₂) value is usually higher than 0.
Select No carbon dioxide value, if the vehicle has no EU or EC type approval or if no CO2 emissions value is available for other reasons. In this case, the tax authorities will determine a car tax rate for your vehicle by reference to its gross weight (in kilograms) and by the fuel the engine runs on.
4 Additional details on vans
If your vehicle is a van subject to reduced tax, select Eligible for tax reduction. If your vehicle is a van placed in tax-exempt operation, indicate the type of the tax-exempt operation as appropriate.
Length (mm)
Fill in the length of the vehicle in millimetres.
Unladen weight (kg)
This section is for the vehicle’s unladen weight. Fill in the weight indicated by factory documentation, in kilograms. The figure includes the driver’s weight (75 kg for calculation purposes) as well as the weight of the fuel and other liquids.
Number of doors
Fill in how many doors the van’s cabin has.
Number of seats
Fill in as appropriate.
Subject to reduced car tax Subject to full car tax
Tick the correct box to indicate whether the van is subject to reduced or full tax.
5 Automotive accessories and equipment, vehicle age less than 2 years
If the vehicle is a passenger car or a van, and its age is less than 2 years, you also have to provide a list of its equipment.
“Level of equipment” refers to a set of accessories and equipment defined by the vehicle manufacturer or by the importer. The set typically consists of many different accessories and options, which may vary. Various sets of automotive accessories and equipment often have a commercial name for marketing purposes.
If available, add the name – such as “premium package”, “sport pack”, “comfort”, etc. – into the text field. If you cannot give the marketing name for the accessories or options the vehicle comes with, you can write the reason why no name is available. If you need more writing space, you can prepare an additional document and enclose it with the application form.
Together with the commercial name for a set or package, fill in whether your vehicle additionally has any extra accessories besides those belonging to the set or package. If you are not sure, answer Yes to the question on accessories.
After you answer Yes, make a list of the automotive equipment and accessories installed, and enclose the list with the application form. This list would only concern the options that are not part of the commercially named set. If you are unsure about which accessories are included in the commercially named set and which are not, you can make a full list of all the accessories or equipment.
You need to enclose this list also in case you have referred to something other than a named package or set.
See the contract of purchase of your vehicle to look up all its accessories and equipment. Another source of information might be the official importer or motor dealer of your vehicle.
Read more about the reporting requirements concerning accessories and equipment.
6 Other additional information
Grounds for a refund
Indicate the grounds for the claimed refund, by selecting the appropriate option.
You cannot use this application form to ask for a refund of car tax if the vehicle is a used van with reduced car tax. If you want the vehicle to be taxed as a van with reduced car tax, file a Claim for adjustment of car tax.
Traffic licence number
If the vehicle is a taxi, enter the traffic licence number.
7 Advance ruling
Tick the box if an advance ruling regarding the vehicle had been issued to you, and you demand that the ruling be applied on the car tax. The ruling must still be in effect.
8 Enclosures
The documents you may need to enclose are for providing an account of the vehicle’s individual automotive features. Any characteristic of the vehicle can be considered an important feature in this regard, when it differs from the usual – for example, the steering wheel on the right-hand side (RHD).
These features are any automotive characteristics that are different from the usual. For example, if the vehicle has RHD steering, with the steering wheel on the right-hand side. However, changes caused or related to the vehicle’s aging, or to minor damage, are not considered individual automotive features.