What kind of data is included in the public information on individual income taxes and what is not

This page is intended to help those who use the public information on individual income taxes to understand what the data included in the public information actually indicates about an individual’s income and assets.

Summary

Data included in the public information on individual income taxes

  • Taxable earned and capital income after deductions.
  • Tax collected on the income after deductions and credits.
  • Income tax and municipal tax paid by the individual during the year.
  • Tax refund received or back taxes payable by the individual.

Examples of what is not included in the public information on individual income taxes

  • Tax-exempt earned or capital income.
  • Details on what the individual’s earned or capital income consists of.
  • Exact amounts of wages or pension received by the individual.
  • The individual’s employer or number of jobs.
  • If the individual is unemployed or how long they have been unemployed.
  • Amounts or types of deductions made.
  • Data on gift taxes, inheritance taxes, or transfer taxes.

Not all income is shown in the public information

Tax-exempt earned or capital income is not included in the public information on individual income taxes. Tax-exempt income includes, for example, social assistance, child benefit, strike pay, and capital gains from the sale of residential property under certain conditions. Dividend income may also be partly tax-exempt under certain conditions. 
 
In addition, an individual’s public tax information does not include data on the following taxes:
  • Gift tax
  • Inheritance tax
  • Transfer tax

Example: How inheritance affects the public information on individual income taxes

Assi inherits an apartment from her mother. The apartment is valued at €200,000 at time of death. Assi must pay €21,700 of inheritance tax on the apartment. The apartment’s value or the amount of inheritance tax are not included in Assi’s public information.

If Assi rents out the apartment, the rental income she receives is part of the capital income included in the public information. In the same way, if Assi later sells the apartment, the profit she receives from that is part of her capital income and therefore public information.

Deductions from income are taken into account in the public information

The figures shown in the public information on individual income taxes are the end results of each individual’s tax assessment as they were at the time tax assessment was completed. The public information on an individual’s earned and capital income includes deductions made from that income either by the Tax Administration or by the individual themself and accepted by the Tax Administration.

This means that the amounts included in the public information cannot be used to directly determine how much pay an individual has earned in a certain job or how much dividend income they have received, for example. There are also certain credits that are deducted directly from the amount of tax payable, such as credit for household expenses and student loan credit. The exact amount of credits cannot be determined from the public information, either.

Example: No income or taxes shown in the public information

Maija receives less than €12,000 of pension per year. She has no other income. After deductions, she has no income that is taxable in state taxation or municipal taxation. Each data entry in Maija’s public information is shown as €0.00.


Example: Deductions from earned income for an employed individual

Daniel’s gross wages during the year are €35,000. He is a member in a trade union and an unemployment fund. He works mainly from home, so he reports the full home office deduction of €920 as expenses for the production of income, but no other deductions.

Example: Deductions from earned income for an employed individual
Details included in Daniel’s tax decision
Wages, fees and compensation 35,000.00
Deductions made in tax assessment/In state taxation and municipal taxation  
Trade union fees and unemployment fund fees 350.00
Expenses for the production of income 920.00
Pension insurance contributions 2,502.50
Unemployment insurance contributions 525.00
Daily allowance contribution of health insurance 413.00
Deductions made in tax assessment/Only in municipal taxation  
Deduction for earned income 2,682.15
Public information on income tax assessment  
Earned income subject to state taxation 30,289.50
Income subject to municipal taxation 27,607.35


Example: Deductions from earned income for an individual in changing life situations

Janne is a veterinary student who graduates in the spring. During his studies, he has received monthly study grants. After graduation, he gets a summer job in retail. In early autumn, he is unemployed for three months. Later in the year, he gets a full-time job as a veterinary nurse. Study grants and labour market subsidies are considered benefits. The public information on individual income taxes does not indicate whether Janne’s income is from employment, benefits, or their combination. The public information also does not show how many different jobs Janne has had or if he has been studying or unemployed.

Example: Deductions from earned income for an individual in changing life situations
Details included in Janne’s tax decision
Wages, fees and compensation 13,500.00
Benefits 3,843.03
Deductions made in tax assessment/
In state taxation and municipal taxation
 
Expenses for the production of income 750.00
Pension insurance contributions 965.25
Unemployment insurance contributions 202.50
Deductions made in tax assessment/Only in municipal taxation  
Deduction for earned income 3,453.31
Public information on income tax assessment  
Earned income subject to state taxation 15,425.28
Income subject to municipal taxation 9,713.72

 
Example: Deductions from earned income for a retired individual

Siiri is retired. The gross amount of pension she receives during the year is €18,000. She reports no deductions in her tax return.

Example: Deductions from earned income for a retired individual
Details included in Siiri’s tax decision
Pensions 18,000.00
Deductions made in tax assessment/In state taxation and municipal taxation  
Pension income deduction 9,209.40
Deductions made in tax assessment/Only in municipal taxation  
Pension income deduction 5,406.60
Basic deduction 2,146.39
Public information on income tax assessment  
Earned income subject to state taxation 8,790.60
Income subject to municipal taxation 10,447.01


Example: Deductions from capital income

Elisa owns shares in listed companies. She receives €25,000 of dividend income from her shares. 85% of dividend income from listed companies is subject to tax. In Elisa’s case, this means €21,250.

During the tax year, Elisa sells some forest property she has owned for a long time. This sale results in a loss of €20,000 for her. She also reports €500 in expenses for management and safekeeping of securities and shares.

Example: Deductions from capital income
Details included in Elisa’s tax decision
Taxable portion of capital income from dividends 21,250.00
Deductions made in tax assessment  
Capital losses from other assets 20,000.00
Expenses for management and safekeeping of securities and shares 500.00
 
Public information on income tax assessment
 
Capital income 750.00


Example: How different deductions affect the tax assessment of individuals with the same wages as reflected in their public information

Risto and Tarja live in the same municipality and they both earn €40,000 in wages per year. Neither of them has any capital income. Both have a tax rate of 18.5%.
Risto lives a long distance away from his place of work, so he commutes by car. Tarja lives right next to her place of work. Risto is a member of a trade union and an unemployment fund. He has also purchased work equipment during the year and made voluntary pension insurance contributions. Tarja reports no deductions.

Because Risto has many different deductions, his amount of income looks smaller than Tarja’s, even though they have both received the same amount of wages during the year.

Example: How different deductions affect the tax assessment of individuals with the same wages as reflected in their public information
  Risto, € Tarja, €
Gross income (not public information) 40,000.00 40,000.00
Public information on income tax assessment    
Earned income subject to state taxation 31,968.00 35,318.00
Capital income subject to state taxation 0.00 0.00
Income tax 1,141.73 1,719.61
Income subject to municipal taxation 29,383.50 32,884.25
Municipal tax 5,950.16 6,659.06
Total taxes and charges 5,649.46 7,380.45
Total withholdings 7,400.00 7,400.00
Tax refund 1,750.54 19.55
Back taxes 0.00 0.00

 

 

What point in time does the public information reflect?

The public information on individual income taxes is based on the data that was available when the tax assessment process was completed. The end dates for individual taxpayers’ tax assessment vary. For most, tax assessment is completed in June. The tax assessment of all individual taxpayers is completed by the end of October in the year following the tax year. This is called regular tax assessment. Information regular tax assessment is published in early November regardless of when the individual’s tax assessment ended.

Starting with tax year 2022, any adjustments made to tax assessment after the completion of assessment will also be made public. The data on tax adjustments is public to the same extent as data on regular tax assessment. This data therefore does not include information on the grounds for the adjustments, for example.

Adjusted tax information for 2022 will be published in September 2024. In future, changes to tax assessment will be made public after the 20th day of the month following the month in which the change was made. However, adjusted information will not be published before the information on the regular tax assessment of the tax year in question has been made public.

Adjusted tax information is available to the public on the customer terminals at tax offices.

Adjustments to the tax assessment of tax years before 2022 will remain outside the scope of the public information on individual income taxes, as before.

Example: How later changes to tax assessment affect the public information on individual income taxes before tax year 2022

Kalle has already filed his tax return for 2021, including the rental income he received from an apartment he owns. However, he forgot to deduct the cost of renovations he had carried out at the apartment, which amounted to €5,000. Kalle reported €13,000 in gross rental income and €6,000 in maintenance charges and other expenses, so the amount of taxable capital income in his tax decision is €7,000. He has no other capital income or deductions, so that same figure is also shown in his public information for tax year 2021.

Later, Kalle files a claim for adjustment, and the Tax Administration accepts it. In his adjusted tax decision, Kalle’s taxable capital income for 2021 is €2,000. However, this change is not carried over to the public information, where the figure stays at €7,000.

Example: How adjustments to tax assessment are reflected in the public information on individual income taxes starting with tax year 2022

If the above example of Kalle’s tax adjustment had concerned tax year 2022, from September 2024 Kalle’s public information would show €7,000 for regular tax assessment and €2,000 for reviewed tax assessment.

 

Page last updated 9/10/2024