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

Introduction

Complete this form to ask for a refund of Finnish withholding tax on other income than dividends, interest and royalties. It is available for downloading at tax.fi. Its return address is on the first page.

If you are not a resident in Finland and get paid (receive wages, salaries, nonwage compensation, trade income etc.), the Finnish payer must withhold tax at source. Typically, the rate is 35 percent. However, under the provisions of a tax treaty between Finland and your home country, the rate may be lower. Sometimes the income may even be granted a full exemption from taxes.

Use the form if too much tax at source was withheld, or if no tax at all should have been withheld. File the application to the Finnish Tax Administration. You can file it during the three (3) years that follow the calendar year when the tax was paid.

If the excess tax only amounted to €10 per year or less, we will not pay a refund. The euro is the currency we use for the preparation of refund decisions.

As an alternative to the refund of source tax, you can ask for progressive taxation of your wage income (or other earned income). To ask for it, complete Form 6148e, Claim for progressive taxation of earned income. Forms are available at tax.fi.

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

Always complete 1.10., the Tax Identification Number (or TIN) issued in your country of residence. If you have asked for a refund previously, enter the registration number of the refund decision in 1.14.

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.