Due diligence obligations for platform operators

Excluded sellers

Platform operators should not report information on excluded sellers to the Tax Administration.

Excluded sellers include:

• Public entities, such as countries, states, municipalities or agencies or institutions owned by them 
• Listed companies or their related entities whose shares are regularly traded on the established securities market
• Sellers that during the reportable period
  • have rented out a property complex through the same platform operator’s platform more than 2,000 times or
  • sold goods less than 30 times, receiving a total consideration of no more than €2,000. This exclusion only relates to the sale of goods.

Whether a seller is an excluded seller is assessed separately for each reportable period. For example, whether the sales of goods are below or above the threshold limits must be checked based on the actual sales at the end of the reportable period.

What information must be collected about sellers

Platform operators must collect information on the sellers that use the platform. The information to be collected depends on whether the seller is a natural person or a company.

When the seller is a natural person

If the seller is a natural person, the following information on the seller must be collected: 

• first name and last name 
• primary address
• any TINs issued to the seller, and the countries of issuance
• VAT number (if available) 
• date of birth.

The seller’s place of birth must be collected if the seller’s country of residence does not issue a TIN to the seller or if it does not require that TINs issued to the seller should be collected.

When the seller is a company

If the seller is a company, the following information on the seller must be collected:

• official name
• primary address
• any TINs issued to the seller, and the countries of issuance
• VAT number (if available) 
• business register number
• such permanent establishments in the EU through which the seller sells or rents out items, and the countries where the permanent establishments are located.

Note: In Finland, TIN is either a natural person’s personal identity code or a company’s Business ID.

Information about rented property

If the seller offers a property complex for rent on the plaform, the platform operator must collect the following information:

• address of the property complex
• real estate register number (property identifier) or the like.

A property complex refers to all residential apartments, business premisses, parking spaces and immovable property located at the same street address, owned by the same owner and offered for rent on a platform by the same seller.

The information must be collected on all rented property. The country of location is irrelevant.

How to verify the accuracy of information

The platform operator must make sure that the information collected is accurate. This is done by comparing the platform operator’s records with other information and documents available to the operator. In addition, the validity of the TIN and the VAT number must be checked in free electronic services provided by the country or the EU.

Electronic check services:

• Business ID (Finland): Business Information System YTJ service
• Format of tax identification number (TIN): TIN online check module European Commission.
• Validity of VAT number in the EU: VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) European Commission

If the platform operator detects that an item of information is no longer reliable, it must ask the seller to provide new information or a new document and verify its accuracy.

Is it possible to use previously collected information?

The due diligence procedures must be followed during each reportable period. However, the platform operator can use previously collected information if the following conditions are met:

• the information has been collected and verified within the past 36 months
• there is no reason to suspect that the information is no longer correct or otherwise accurate.

Determining the seller’s place of residence

The platform operator must identify the place of residence of a seller that uses the platform.

The seller’s place of residence is the country where the seller has its primary address. If the seller does not have a TIN issued by the country where the seller has its primary address, then the place of residence is every EU Member State where the seller has a TIN.

If the seller has notified the platform operator of a permanent establishment located in the EU, then the seller’s place of residence is also the country of location of the permanent establishment.

If the seller does not provide the information

If the seller does not provide the required information, the platform operator must remind the seller of the matter two times.

If the seller does not provide the information despite the reminders within 60 days from the original request, the platform operator must either

• close the seller’s account on the platform and prevent the seller’s re-registration or
• interrupt consideration payments until the seller provides the required information. This applies to payments that the seller receives for selling and renting items on the platform.

If the platform operator does not receive the information or a reliable account despite its requests, it must report the information it has to the Tax Administration.

Obligation to record and store information 

The platform operator must record the activities and information it uses to meet the due diligence obligations and to report the information to the Tax Administration.

Records of the information and activities must be stored for at least six years after the end of the reportable period to which they relate. The operator must be able to provide the information if requested by the Tax Administration.