Instructions for completing an inheritance tax return form

I Decedent

Enter the details of the decedent here.

If a Finnish personal ID does not exist, instead enter the date of birth in the dd.mm.yyyy format.

Country of residence

The country of residence is the state in which the decedent lived when they passed away. The state where a person has his or her primary residence and home is considered the person's country of residence.

Country of tax residence

If the country of tax residence is other than the country of residence, enter the state in which the decedent was meant to live permanently as the country of tax residence. If the decedent had lived in the country of tax residence for at least the past 5 consecutive years, tick the box “Decedent lived in the country of tax residence for at least the past five years".

Decedent had a place of residence in Finland

Select the appropriate alternative. If the decedent did not have a place of residence in Finland, leave the section blank.

II Contact information

Enter the details of the person who can provide more information for the inheritance taxation.  Complete the section even if the inheritor is this person.

Provide a telephone number in international format (for instance +358 40123 4567).

Tick the box if the estate shareholders have authorized someone to represent the estate. Enter the name and the address of the representative. Enclose a power of attorney.

If the estate has not authorized a representative, enter the details of the inheritor who is the estate’s contact person and to whom the estate’s tax correspondence should be addressed.

III Inheritor

Enter the details of the inheritor or the beneficiary of a will or a trust.

If a Finnish personal ID does not exist, instead enter the date of birth in the dd.mm.yyyy format.
Country of residence

Enter the country in which the inheritor lived on the decedent’s date of death. If Finland was the country of residence, leave the section blank. The state where a person has his or her primary residence and home is considered their country of residence.

Tax bracket

Check tax bracket 1. if you are:

• the spouse of the decedent. Persons who are married or in a registered civil partnership are considered spouses. Domestic partners are also considered spouses if they have previously been married to each other and have a common child or had one in the past.
• related to the decedent in direct ascending or descending line, such as a child, a grandchild, a parent or a grandparent. (Adoptive children and parents are considered equal to biological relatives in taxation.)
• related to the decedent’s spouse (or former spouse) in direct descending line, such as a child or grandchild.

Check tax bracket 2. if you:

• have received the inheritance from a more distant relative (such as a sibling, a cousin, an uncle, an aunt or a parent-in-law ) or someone outside the family.
• are completing the form on behalf of a company or other corporate entity (i.e. the inheritor is a corporate entity).

Right to tax deduction for minors

Tick the box if the inheritor was under 18 years of age on the decedent’s date of death and he or she was closest to the decedent in the order of inheritance. For instance the following do not have the right to tax deduction for minors:

• an underage inheritor whose inheritance is the result of his or her parents forgoing an inheritance or a will
• an underage inheritor whose inheritance is based on a direct testamentary disposition which overlooks his or her living parent.

Right to deduction for spouses

Check the box if the inheritor is the spouse of the decedent or in a registered civil partnership with the decedent. Also check the box if the inheritor and the decedent were domestic partners and they have previously been married to each other or they have or have had a child together.

IV Share of the estate

Enter the assets that belong to you according to either the law, a will or a trust.

Enter the fair market value of your share on the date of death.

Also include assets in section V.

Insurance benefits you have received based on a beneficiary clause are entered separately in section VII (Indemnity you have received based on a beneficiary clause). Do not include them in this estate share. If insurance benefits have been paid to the estate, please specify them in a separate account and enclose it with the inheritance tax return.

V Specification of your share

Enter the fair market value of the assets on the decedent’s date of death.

1. Immovable property located in Finland

Exception: a share of an undivided estate is not considered immovable property

2. Corporate stock or shareholdings in a company when over 50% of the company's assets is immovable property located in Finland, for instance shares in a housing company or in a joint-stock property company.

3. Other assets located in Finland (only types of property mentioned in a double taxation convention)

Only enter these assets if the inheritor lived in Finland and the decedent's place of tax residence on the date of death was:

• The Netherlands (see the Tax Administration guideline for inheritance and gift taxation in international situations (“Perintö- ja lahjaverotus kansainvälisissä tilanteissa”, section 4.9.1.1)
• France (see the Tax Administration guideline for inheritance and gift taxation in international situations (“Perintö- ja lahjaverotus kansainvälisissä tilanteissa”, section 4.9.2.1)
• Switzerland (see the Tax Administration guideline for inheritance and gift taxation in international situations (“Perintö- ja lahjaverotus kansainvälisissä tilanteissa”, section 4.9.3.1)
• Denmark or Iceland (see the Tax Administration guideline for inheritance and gift taxation in international situations (“Perintö- ja lahjaverotus kansainvälisissä tilanteissa”, section 4.9.4.1) These guidelines also apply to situations where the decedent lived in Sweden and died before 24 August, 2007, or where the decedent lived in Norway and died before 22 August, 2014.
• USA (see the Tax Administration guideline for inheritance and gift taxation in international situations (“Perintö- ja lahjaverotus kansainvälisissä tilanteissa”, section 4.9.6.1)

Debts and obligations connected to assets in sections 1-3

If there are debts in connection to assets in sections 1-3, or another person has the rights of possession, of profit or other similar rights over the assets, enter the total value of the debts and the obligations on the decedent's date of death. For the rules of calculating the value of the rights, go to Gift and right of possession.

Assets included in your share which have been inherited within the past two years

If your share of the inheritance includes assets that the current decedent has inherited within the two years preceding their death, enter the value of such assets.

Check the correct tax bracket. For more detailed instructions, see section III (Inheritor).

Page two of the form

Enter the Finnish personal ID of the inheritor as identification information. If a Finnish personal ID does not exist, instead enter the date of birth in the dd.mm.yyyy format.

VI Tax paid to another country

Enter any foreign inheritance tax that you have paid to another country for the share you filed in section IV. Do not, however, enter taxes that you have paid to federal states or regional tax authorities.

VII Indemnity you have received based on a beneficiary clause

Life insurance benefit

Enter any life insurance benefit that you have received based on a beneficiary clause.

Individual retirement pension insurance benefit

If insurance benefit is paid based on an individual retirement pension insurance benefit, enter the amount of the benefit you received.

Enter the exceeding part of the individual retirement pension benefit.

Tick the box if the decedent took out individual retirement pension insurance 18 September 2009 or later.

VIII Gifts you have received from the decedent

If you have received gifts under the total value of €5,000 from the decedent within the three years preceding their death, enter the value of the gifts. Do not include gifts for which you have already filed a gift tax return.

Such gifts do not need to be filed if both the donor and the beneficiary lived abroad on the date of donation and both of the following conditions apply:

• the donated assets were not immovable property located in Finland
• the donated assets were not corporate stock or shareholdings in a company whose assets are to over 50% comprised of immovable property located in Finland

IX Requests regarding a change-of-generation tax relief and the application of a preliminary ruling

You can get a tax relief based on a change-of-generation situation only if the inheritance includes a farm or a company and you continue its operations.

Tick the box if you seek a relief of the inheritance tax based on the provision regarding tax reliefs in change-of-generation situations.

Tick the box if you also seek extended payment time for the inheritance tax.

Enclose a separate account of how you will continue to operate business, agriculture or agriculture and forestry with the assets you inherited.

Tick the box if the application of a preliminary ruling has previously been requested regarding the inheritance tax for the inheritance you received, and you demand that the preliminary ruling be applied in the inheritance taxation.

Date and signature

Don't forget to sign the inheritance tax return form. The inheritance tax return of a minor must be signed by his or her guardian or another trustee.

The inheritance tax return should only have one signature. If there are several inheritors, each must complete and sign their own inheritance tax return.

If the inheritance tax return is completed by a person authorized by the inheritor, the return should also be signed by the authorized representative.

Attachments

Enclose photocopies of the following documents to the inheritance tax return:

• an estate inventory deed or a specification of assets which discloses the assets and the debts of the decedent on the date of death.
• a will
• the inheritance tax decision from the tax authority of another country, in case you have paid foreign inheritance tax to another country
• the charter of a trust
• an insurance company’s or another payer’s decision on insurance benefit
• a deed or another agreement drawn up regarding the distribution of the estate