Application for refund of Finnish withholding tax on dividends, interest and royalties (natural persons), instructions for filling in Form 6164e and Form 6167e (enclosure)

General instructions for filing an application for refunding of tax at source

These instructions concern Form 6164e, which is a non-resident individual’s application for refunding of tax at source, and Form 6167e (enclosure). You can find detailed instructions for filling in Form 6167e at the end of these instructions. Enclose Form 6167e with Form 6164e when you are requesting a refund for more than one dividend batch.

You can also request refunding of tax at source electronically in MyTax. After logging in, select Report or request information in a limited scope. These same instructions also help you file electronic applications. You can submit an electronic application yourself, or an agent can do it on your behalf. The Tax Administration also accepts bulk submissions submitted in the Ilmoitin.fi service. Bulk submissions are for agents. Agents can use bulk submissions to submit multiple applications by multiple applicants in a single XML file. Read more about filing electronic applications for refunding of tax at source.

Before filing an application, read Paying dividends, interest and royalties to foreign beneficiaries. Please note that in the year when dividend is paid, only the payer can adjust the tax withheld at source. Contact your bank for adjustment of the tax in the year of payment.

If the dividend payer does not adjust the tax withheld at source in the year of payment, you can request refunding of the excess amount from the Tax Administration starting from the year following the year of payment. The application for refunding of tax at source must arrive at the Tax Administration within three years from the end of the calendar year in which the tax was withheld.

Example 1: You were paid dividends on 1 June 2023. Because you can request refunding of the tax withheld at source for the next three calendar years, the refund application must arrive at the Tax Administration by 31 December 2026. Please note that if the last day of the year is a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday, the due date is the following business day.

The Tax Administration will pay you a refund if the refundable amount is at least €10.

If you have received interest income on which too much tax at source on interest income has been withheld, request a refund of the excess amount by completing Form 6166e. In principle, tax at source on interest income is withheld only from resident taxpayers.  In other words, interest paid to non-resident taxpayers does not fall within the scope of the act on tax at source withheld on interest income (1341/1990). Read more about the interest income subject to tax at source on interest income (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).

Read more about taxation at source

Paying dividends, interest and royalties to foreign beneficiaries

Receipts of dividends, interest and royalties by nonresidents

Check the rates of tax at source applicable to dividends, interest and royalties paid from Finnish sources

Completing and submitting the application

Enter all amounts in euros. The Tax Administration’s decision also states the amounts in euros.

Fill in the form carefully and add the required enclosures in order that we could process your application effortlessly and without delay. Mandatory information is marked with an asterisk.

The application form will be read optically at the Tax Administration, i.e. it will be scanned and converted into electronic format. For this reason, it is important that there are no stamps, text or the like near the QR code on the application form.

You can print the application form either single- or double-sided, and you can write by hand if you like. Remember to sign the form.

Send the application to the address stated at the top of the form.

Other enclosures

Enclose the following documents with the application:

• A receipt or voucher for the dividend, interest or royalty income paid and the tax withheld at source
• A certificate of fiscal residence issued by the tax authority for the tax year(s) the application concerns. Alternatively, you can ask the tax authority of your country of residence to fill in the “Certificate of fiscal residence” section on the form
• A power of attorney if you are represented by an agent

How to complete Form 6164e

1 Applicant

1.1–1.2 Family name, Given names

Fill in your official last name, first name and any middle names. Do not include titles or marital status, and do not use abbreviations. If you are requesting a refund together with your spouse, enter both your and your spouse’s names and separate them with a comma.

1.3 Tax id. no. in the country of residence (TIN)

Enter here your Tax Identification Number (TIN) issued by your country of residence. If you are requesting a refund together with your spouse, enter both your and your spouse’s TINs and separate them with a comma. Further information on TINs is available from your local tax authority.

1.4 Finnish personal identity code or date of birth

Enter here your Finnish personal ID. If you do not have a Finnish personal ID, enter your date of birth using the format dd.mm.yyyy. If you are requesting a refund together with your spouse, enter both your and your spouse’s Finnish personal IDs or dates of birth and separate them with a comma.

1.5 Country of residence

Enter here your country of residence, i.e. the country in which you live on a permanent basis and to which you pay tax on your worldwide income.

1.6–1.8 Address

Fill in the postal address, postal code and post office (city).

1.9–1.10 Previous refunds, if any

If you have requested a refund from the Tax Administration before, select Yes in field 1.9. If you select Yes, enter the number of the previous refund decision in field 1.10.

1.11 Telephone number

Enter your telephone number in the international format.

2 Information on the income

Select the type of income on which the tax at source that you request to be refunded has been withheld. Tick only one option. If your refund request concerns more than one income type, fill in a separate application on each.

3 Dividends

This section is for information on dividend income. If you are requesting a tax-at-source refund regarding interest or royalty income, leave fields 3.1–3.17 blank.

3.1 Receipt of dividends is

Tick the appropriate option to indicate the basis of your dividend income. If you do not know what your shareholding is based on, contact your account operator or bank.

3.2–3.6 Information about the fund or partnership

Fill in these fields only if you have received dividend income through a partnership.

An applicant requesting a refund of tax at source must be a taxpayer that has received income from Finland. If the income has been paid to a foreign flow-through entity, the application must be submitted in the name of the said entity. Partnerships, in turn, are usually not separately liable for tax. In these cases, the refund application is filed in the name of a partner, and details on the partnership are entered in fields 3.5 and 3.6.

3.7 Name of payer

Enter the payer's name in the same form as it is in the receipt or bank statement related to the dividend payment.

3.8 Payer’s ISIN

Enter the ISIN code of the company that paid the dividend. ISIN is a securities identification number. For example, ISIN codes of securities issued in Finland are of the format FI0000123456.

If you do not know or find the ISIN code, please contact your account operator.

3.9 Payer is stock-exchange listed

A company is listed on a stock exchange if any of its share series is publicly listed and the company is trading on a regulated market supervised by authorities. In field 3.9, select whether the payer was listed or non-listed when the dividends were paid.

3.10–3.15 Information on the dividend batch and refund

Enter here information on the dividend batch. Report the dividends in euros.

Fill in the date of payment in field 3.10.  

Enter the number of shares in field 3.11, and enter the gross dividend amount, the tax withheld on dividend income and the amount you request to be refunded in fields 3.12, 3.13 and 3.14, respectively.

If you are applying for a refund of more than one dividend batch, tick 3.15 and report the other dividend batches on Form 6167e (enclosure). Do not re-report the dividend batch you have entered in the actual application form (Form 6164e) in the enclosure (Form 6167e). You can fill in and enclose as many Forms 6167e as necessary. In field 3.15 of Form 6164e, also enter the years when the dividend batches reported on Form 6167e were paid.

Example 2: You report the following information about dividends paid by company A on Form 6164e: gross amount €1,000, tax withheld at source €350, tax requested to be refunded €200. In addition, you report the following information about dividends paid by company B on Form 6167e: gross amount €500, tax withheld at source €175, tax requested to be refunded €100. 

3.16 Intermediary bank

Enter here all the intermediary banks through that have handled the dividend payment before it is transferred to you. Each name on the list should also include information on the specific branch in question, such as the branch address. If you do not know the intermediary banks, contact your account operator or bank.

Example 3: Dividends were paid to you by Bank C. You have contacted your bank for information about the intermediary banks. You learn that Bank C received the dividend payment from a foreign account operator, Bank B. Bank B received the payment from a Finnish account operator, Bank A. Bank A paid the dividends on behalf of the payer company. In field 3.16, enter Bank A, Bank B and Bank C as intermediary banks.

3.17 On what grounds do you seek refund?

Enter here the grounds for your application. If you are requesting a refund based on a tax treaty between Finland and your country of residence, tick “Based on tax treaty”.

Usually, tax withheld at source based on a tax treaty will be credited in the country of residence. If you live in the European Economic Area (EEA) and if, exceptionally, the tax withheld in Finland on dividends cannot be fully credited in your country of residence, you may claim that your Finnish-sourced dividends should be taxed as if you were a resident taxpayer in Finland. You can file the claim by ticking “On other grounds” and enclosing Form 6161e to your application.

Read more about dividends, interest and royalties to foreign beneficiaries

Read more about the taxation of dividends paid to resident taxpayers

4 Interest payments or royalties

If you have received interest or royalty income rather than dividend income, fill in this section.

4.1 Name of payer

Enter the name of the payer of interest or royalties. Always use the official name in Finnish. Do not add anything to the payer’s name or make any other markings.

4.2 – 4.5 Information on the income

Enter here information on the interest or royalty income.

4.6 On what grounds do you seek refund?

Enter here the grounds for your application. If your application is based on a tax treaty between Finland and your country of residence, tick “Based on tax treaty”. If your application is not based on a tax treaty, tick “On other grounds, what” and add the grounds. You can add a free form enclosure if necessary.

5 Bank account number for the refund

Enter here the bank account where you want the refund to be paid.

In the case of payments made within the Single European Payment Area (SEPA), fill in the account holder’s name, the bank account number in IBAN format and the bank’s BIC code. Note that the country code for the IBAN bank account number and for the BIC code must be the same. For example, if the IBAN begins with the country code FI, the country code used in the BIC must also be FI.

For payments made outside the SEPA zone, enter a country-specific clearing code and the name and address of the receiving bank, as well as the account holder and the bank account number.

In field 5.9, you can add a reference number of your choice. The Tax Administration will use the reference number when paying the refund. The Tax Administration can also use the reference number in any requests for additional information concerning this application. 

6 Information on the agent signing this application form

If you want the Tax Administration to send the decision and any requests for additional information to an agent, enter the details of the agent here. Enclose a letter of authorisation and tick the box in field 6.9.

Enter the agent’s name, identifier in the country of residence and contact information in fields 6.1–6.8. The agent’s identifier makes it possible to distinguish the tax-at-source refund applications submitted by a certain agent from all other applications. It also makes it possible to examine the status of all the applications submitted by a certain agent. The agent’s identifier may be, for example, a Finnish Business ID, a tax identification number (TIN) issued by another country or an identifier issued by another public authority.

If you are represented by more than one agent, enter here the details of the agent that is to receive the decisions and information requests, even if the application is signed by another agent.

Other things to note

Certificate of fiscal residence

After you have filled in the form, ask the tax authority of your country of residence to fill in the "Certificate of fiscal residence" section. Here the tax authority confirms that you were tax resident of the country in accordance with the tax treaty at the time when you received the income on which the tax at source had been withheld.

Alternatively, you can request a separate certificate of residence from the tax authority. If you enclose a separate certificate of residence, tick the box “A certificate of tax residency issued by local authorities is enclosed”.

Assurance and signature

Read the assurance (“The undersigned declares …”) carefully before signing. Tick the appropriate boxes.

Remember to date and sign the completed form. If you apply for a refund together with your spouse, note that they too must sign the form. Alternatively, your spouse can authorise you to sign the form of their behalf. In that case, enclose a letter of authorisation. 

How to complete Form 6167e (enclosure)

Use Form 6167e when you are requesting a refund of an excess amount of tax withheld at source on more than one dividend batch. You can fill in and enclose as many Forms 6167e as necessary.

1 Applicant

1.1 Family name and given names

Fill in your official family name and first and middle names. Enter the name in the same form as in the application (Form 6164e).

1.2 Tax identification number (TIN) in country of residence

Enter here your Tax Identification Number (TIN). If you are requesting a refund together with your spouse, enter both your and your spouse’s TINs and separate them with a comma.

1.3–1.4 Accounting period

Leave these fields blank.

2 Specification of the dividends

Enter here the details of the dividend batch. For more information, see the instructions for filling in Form 6164e as regards fields 3.7, 3.8 and 3.9–3.14.