Instructions for companies in the corona situation

The coronavirus pandemic may cause tax difficulties for entrepreneurs, companies and accountants. The Tax Administration supports businesses during this these exceptional circumstances. On this page, we have collected instructions for businesses and entrepreneurs who have difficulties filing and paying their taxes on time.

You can make changes to prepayments if necessary 

If your company’s income has decreased due to the coronavirus, you should change your prepayment amount. You can request changes to your prepayments multiple times in a year. In these exceptional circumstances, your prepayments can be lowered by your request without interim financial statements or other written clarifications. Instructions: How to request prepayments in MyTax. 

You can also request changes to the months in which the prepayments fall due.

If your prepayments are already overdue, request a payment arrangement. You can get a payment arrangement with eased terms due to the coronavirus situation.

Tax returns: More time for filing

• The Tax Administration has granted one month of extra time for filing tax returns to corporate entities whose accounting period ended between December 2019 and February 2020. You can see the new deadline for filing in MyTax. Read more about the extended filing deadlines for tax returns.
• You can request more time for filing your company’s income tax return or real estate tax return. You can get more time for filing if you have a justified reason, such as illness, that prevents you from filing your tax return by its original deadline. You can apply for extension in MyTax or with a paper form (Application for extension of time to submit tax return). Please note that the application must arrive at the Tax Administration by the tax return’s original filing deadline. Please do not enclose a medical certificate with your tax return. A free-form written account is enough.

Value added tax 

• You can request a refund of VAT and pay it back later
• The Tax Administration has sped up the processing of VAT returns. See processing times for returns and applications.
• We cannot grant more time for filing VAT returns or other tax returns for self-assessed taxes. Please remember to file a VAT return even if your company has not had any VAT-liable activities. In this case, report “No activities during the tax period” on the return. Late-filing penalties are imposed on returns that are filed late. Note:If the company has not filed all the required tax returns, the company cannot be granted a payment arrangement.
• Instructions for VAT filing in the coronavirus situation

If you or your company have financial difficulties

• You can request a payment arrangement for temporary financial difficulties. Due to the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus, the Tax Administration has eased the terms of payment arrangements. Read more: You can request a payment arrangement with eased terms
• You may not have to add late-payment interest to your payments if you are unable to pay the tax on time due to a special reason, such as illness. You can request the removal of late-payment interest in MyTax.
• You cannot request a payment arrangement for car tax or excise duties. However, you can request extended time for payment. See instructions on how to request an extension for payment of car tax and an extension for payment of excise duty (available in Finnish and Swedish, links to Finnish).

Financial aid and subsidies paid to companies in the coronavirus situation

Public-sector bodies, such as municipalities, help companies and entrepreneurs in the coronavirus situation with financial aid and subsidies. How do these affect tax assessment? 

Employers

• Do you have to lay off employees or let them go?
  • Instruct your employees to request a revised tax card for their unemployment benefits
  • Read more about the tax card for benefits
• Are you hiring seasonal workers from abroad? Your employees may be entitled to the temporary epidemic support granted by Kela. If your employee receives epidemic support, instruct them to report it in the Benefit section on their tax card request form. 
• No late-filing penalties for late Incomes Register reports will be imposed in 2020. Note: If the company has not filed all the required tax returns, the company cannot be granted a payment arrangement.
• Fringe benefits and the corona situation: Frequently asked questions
• Incomes Register reports and the corona situation: Frequently asked questions (incomesregister.fi)