Application for refund of Finnish withholding tax on other income than dividends, interest, and royalties; individual applicant (Form 6166)

Introduction

If you are a non-resident taxpayer in Finland, payors withhold tax on your income (such as wages and trade income). The tax withheld at source is usually 35%. However, under the provisions of a tax treaty between Finland and your country of residence, the tax rate may be lower or the income may even have been exempted from tax. If too much tax has been withheld on your Finnish-sourced income or if no tax should have been withheld at all, request a refund of the tax at source from the Finnish Tax Administration on Form 6166e.

If you have received wage income subject to the act on key employees (Laki ulkomailta tulevan palkansaajan lähdeverosta 1551/1995) and if too much tax has been withheld from the key employee’s wages, request a refund of the excess tax on Form 6166e. Read more about the taxation of key employees.

You can download Form 6166e from the Forms page. The return address is marked on the first page of the form. Note that you do not need to enclose any receipts or vouchers on the income paid to you or on the tax withheld at source. However, keep the receipts for yourself. The Tax Administration may ask you to present them later.

Also use Form 6166e to request a refund of any excess tax at source if you are a resident or non-resident taxpayer and have received interest income on which too much tax has been withheld at source. In such a case, enclose a document showing the amount of tax at source withheld on your interest income, and the payor's affirmation that they have not adjusted and will not adjust the tax. Read more about the interest income subject to tax at source (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

You can file the refund application within three (3) calendar years after the year when the tax was withheld.

If the excess withholding is less than €10 a year, it will not be refunded. The currency used in the refund decision is the euro.

As an alternative to the refund of the tax at source, you can claim progressive taxation of your wage income or other earned income. If you want to claim progressive taxation, fill in Form 6148e (Claim for progressive taxation of earned income). 

Read more on the taxation of nonresidents' income

How to complete the form

1 Applicant

Enter your identity details in this section, including your name, address and telephone number. Complete all the spaces carefully.

Fill in the 1.1. and 1.2. spaces with your first and last name; no title, no marital status. If you don't have a Finnish personal identity code, fill in your date of birth in 1.4.

Country code must be entered in 1.9. The country of tax residence of a non-resident taxpayer cannot be Finland (FI). To make sure of the right country code, visit:

ISO 3166 list of Country Codes (www.iso.org)
List of the countries that have signed a tax treaty with Finland

In field 1.10, enter your foreign Tax Identification Number (TIN). If you have previously applied for a refund, enter the registration number of the refund decision in 1.14. In field 1.15, indicate whether the income you have received is taxable under the act on key employees. 

2 Information on the agent signing this application form

If you have authorised someone to request the refund and to sign this form on your behalf, their name and contact details must be entered in 2.1. - 2.4. Enclose the letter of authorisation, and tick box 2.5.

3 Information on the income

Select the type of the income concerned by the tax at source. Tick just one of the boxes. If you are applying for refunds that concern several types of income, you must complete separate application forms to show each one of them.

Fill in spaces 3.1 – 3.6 carefully in order to give details on the income and on the tax at source. Give the reasons for the refund in 3.7.

If your application concerns "trade income" i.e. nonwage compensation for work, you must enclose Form 6205 (Explanation of business conducted by a foreign self-employed individual). Forms are available at tax.fi.

You are not expected to enclose any receipts or vouchers on the amounts paid to you and the taxes withheld at source. However, you should keep all vouchers and receipts, because the Tax Administration may ask you to present them later.

4 Bank account number for the refund

This section is for your bank account information so the payment can be sent to you. If you are an applicant in the European Union, or if the refund payment goes to a bank located in the EU, enter the bank account number in the IBAN format (4.1.), and the bank's BIC or SWIFT code (4.2).

If you are outside the EU and your bank account number is not in the IBAN format and no BIC or SWIFT codes are available, then enter the bank's name, address, country and its Clearing code.

Certificate of Fiscal Residence
When all the spaces that concern you are completed, show the form to the tax authorities of your country. Ask them to fill out the "Certificate of Fiscal Residence" section. Alternatively, they may issue another type of certificate that establishes your status of residence. If they gave you such a certificate, please enclose it and tick the "Certificate is enclosed" box (below section 4). This means that the country's authorities confirm that you were a tax resident of that country at the time when you received the income.

Don't forget to authorise the form with your signature. Enter the date and signature in the box below section 4. You should also tick the boxes there to affirm that your income was not related to a permanent establishment located in Finland, and to affirm that no refund of tax at source was paid to you by the Finnish company/payer.