Production certificates
Use the certificate service to retrieve production certificates for the following:
- the Tax Administration’s APIs;
- the Incomes Register’s APIs; and
- the Positive credit register’s APIs.
Before you request a production certificate, read the instructions on the websites of the services. Ensure by testing that your software works with the applied API.
The use of certificates requires technical skills. Agree upon tasks and procedures with your software supplier.
When you log in to the service for the first time, check your organisation's details
Valid APIs and production certificates created before the launch will be copied to the certificate service. History data on certificates that have expired or that have not been retrieved will not be imported.
When you log in to the ‘Production certificates’ section for the first time, check that your organisation has access to the APIs you need and update your organisation's contact person if necessary. Also check and update the organisation’s technical contact persons for production certificates.
How to start using a certificate
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1
Log in: Production certificates
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Request production certificates in the ‘Production certificates’ section
Log in to the Tax Administration’s certificate service (Production certificates)
Identify yourself using your online banking codes, a mobile certificate or a certificate card.
Check when you also need a Suomi.fi authorisation
In the list, select the company or organisation for which you are requesting an API access right and certificate. Once you have selected the organisation, you can see the APIs and certificates it already has.
Check that the information is up to date. Make sure your organisation has access to the APIs you need. Check and update the organisation's contact person and technical contact persons for certificates.
If the API is already in use, proceed directly to step 3. Request a certificate.
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2
Submit an API application
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The Tax Administration’s and Incomes Register’s APIs
If the organisation is not using any APIs at this stage, select ‘Submit API application’.
- Select the APIs the organisation needs.
- You can request access rights to several APIs at the same time, and the requested APIs can be provided by different parties. For example, you can select the Tax Administration’s Vero API and the Incomes Register’s API for reporting earnings payment data.
- If you are requesting access rights to an Incomes Register API, also indicate why you want to use the API – whether you want to report income you have paid or whether you want to report data on behalf of someone else.
- If you are requesting access rights to the Incomes Register’s API for reporting benefits payment data, also tick the confirmation that your organisation will start using the functions for reporting benefits payment data.
- Enter information about your organisation’s contact person.
- The certificate’s technical contact person must be entered separately in each certificate request.
- Read the terms of use of API services.
- Finally, submit your application.
You can request a certificate immediately after you have submitted your application. In general, we recommend that you order a separate certificate for each API. However, you can use the same Web service certificate for data provider, reporter, and notifier in the Tax Administration’s APIs and the Incomes Register’s WS interface.
If the organisation is already using an API but you want to start using a new API, select ‘Show information’ and then ‘Submit replacement application’.
If your organisation is a data user in the Incomes Register, you need a data permission to use the API. This is why you cannot submit an API application in the certificate service. Read the instructions for data permissions on the Incomes Register’s website.
- Select the APIs the organisation needs.
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Positive credit register’s APIs
Users of the Positive credit register APIs do not need to make a separate API application in the certificate service. You can jump to step 4. The technical contact person retrieves the certificate.
If you need more than one certificate, request the additional certificates as in step 3.
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3
Request a certificate
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Use the ‘Request a new certificate’ button in the e-service
Select the API for which you want to request a certificate.
- You can enter a brief description for the certificate.
- Enter a technical contact person for the certificate, such as a representative of the software company.
- The contact person is responsible for the use of the certificate and will receive separate instructions to retrieve the certificate.
- The contact person will receive a notification of an expiring certificate 60 days before it expires.
- Finally, submit your application.
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4
The technical contact person retrieves the certificate
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The technical contact person is responsible for retrieving and deploying the certificate
Once you have submitted your certificate request, the technical contact person named in the request will receive the information required to retrieve the certificate.
After this, the certificate is available for retrieval for 14 days.
Read more detailed instructions for retrieving a certificate
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5
If you later want to change access rights
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The Tax Administration’s and Incomes Register’s APIs
If you want to change existing access rights or request access to additional Tax Administration or Incomes Register APIs for your organisation, sign in to the ‘Production certificates’ section again and submit a replacement API application.
The replacement application will replace all your previous selections, so make sure to enter all the APIs used by your organisation in it.
Complete the replacement application as you did the first one. Do not remove any selections already made in the application if your organisation is still using the selected APIs. If you are no longer using the previously selected APIs, you can remove the selections. In this case, the access rights to the APIs will also end.
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The Positive credit register’s APIs
If you use the APIs of the Positive credit register and want to make changes, please contact the customer service of the Positive credit register.
To be noted on the software and APIs
- If a software company takes care of the Tax Administration's or Incomes Register's APIs and certificates on behalf of its customer, it must enter into a service agreement with its customer on API services in accordance with the terms of use.
- If your software is intended for accounting firms or other service providers and not directly for companies with a reporting obligation or tax liability, your customer, such as an accounting firm, must submit an API application and request a certificate.
- Once the certificate has been retrieved, the software company must provide their customers with instructions on how certificates are processed in their software. The certificate acts as an organisation’s electronic signature.
- The Tax Administration recommends that software developers offer the retrieval and renewal of production certificates as part of the software that uses certificates.