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A company selling goods or services in the conduct of business is usually liable to pay VAT and has to be entered in the VAT register. In some cases, for example if the company’s turnover is small, VAT registration is voluntary. In addition, some operations are exempt from VAT. A company conducting VAT-exempt operations cannot be entered in the VAT register.
The VAT register is maintained by the Tax Administration. The register is a list of businesses that must pay VAT.
You can register for VAT as soon as you start making purchases for the purposes of your VAT-liable operations.If you register voluntarily, you can do it at the same time as you start your business, or later.
Registration takes approximately 3 weeks. See more detailed processing times.
You can register for VAT in MyTax.
MyTax instructions: How to request entry in the Tax Administration’s registers
Alternatively, you can register in the Business Information System (BIS) at ytj.fi. Select a notification of changes according to your company form (BIS).
You can start business operations and register for VAT. When you have established your business, you are issued a Business ID.
If you also enter your business in the trade register, remember to register the business name and line of business in the Business Information System by submitting a notification of changes (BIS Form Y6).
If you want, you can file the start-up notification on paper (BIS Form Y3) and simultaneously register for VAT.
Limited liability companies (and cooperatives) can register for VAT either electronically or on paper as they submit the start-up notification. File the start-up notification at ytj.fi.
General partnerships and limited partnerships can register for VAT by filing the start-up notification (BIS Form Y2) on paper. The start-up notification form is available at ytj.fi.
You can register for VAT as a primary producer, as a business operator or both. Primary production refers to operations such as agriculture, forestry, horticulture, fur farming and reindeer husbandry.
If you are a primary producer and you also conduct some other form of business, please make sure of submitting separate applications for VAT registration concerning the two activities.
A non-profit organisation must register for VAT if it conducts business operations that are taxable under the act on income tax (Tuloverolaki 1535/1992).
The organisation can register for VAT voluntarily even if it is not liable to pay VAT for its business operations.
Tax partnerships include agricultural partnerships, forestry partnerships, real estate partnerships and VAT partnerships. You can establish a tax partnership by filling in and submitting Start-up notification Y2 on paper. At the same time, you can register for VAT as a primary producer, as a business operator, or as a transferor of rights of use over real estate.
Start-up notification Y2 is available in the Business Information System (ytj.fi)
Any company that sells goods or services for more than €20,000 during one calendar year must be entered in the VAT register (until 31 Dec 2024, the threshold was 15,000 euros during one accounting period (consisting of 12 months).
If the company’s turnover is €20,000 or less per calendar year, the company has the option to apply for VAT registration voluntarily. However, registration can only be granted on the condition that the company is selling goods and services in the conduct of its business.
There are also some exceptions to VAT liability: read more about how to register for VAT.
When a company is in the VAT register
When a company is not in the VAT register
When your business has been registered for VAT, do the following:
When you examine annual turnover from the perspective of the VAT registration threshold, include the following items:
Do not include the following:
The threshold for small-scale activity is fixed at €20,000 although a company might begin its business part way through the year.
Example: A business started in the middle of the calendar year and its first accounting period in accordance with the Accounting Act is 1 July 2025 — 31 December 2025. During the 2025 calendar year, this business will only reach €16,000 in turnover. This means that there is no need to submit an application for VAT registration.
Some companies start up with a first accounting period longer than 12 months. In this case, the question of whether the company will go over the threshold is still answered based on the turnover earned during one calendar year.
Your company must submit an application for VAT registration, starting the date when the threshold was exceeded. The date of exceedance will also mark the start date of your liability to pay VAT.
If you notice that the turnover exceeds the €20,000 threshold, here is what to do:
The responsibility of keeping an eye on sales growth falls upon the company, and the company needs to take the initiative to apply for VAT registration in time. If your company delays its VAT registration, the Tax Administration will take measures to enter it in the VAT register retroactively, starting on the date of threshold exceedance. Note that if this should happen, the first few VAT returns and VAT payments for the year may already be late. You can take that into account when you determine the length of your VAT reporting period (the tax period) on your application for VAT registration: if possible, select a longer tax period.
Example: The company started its business activities on 1 January 2025. Its turnover exceeds €20,000 on 1 April. However, the owner of the company was not aware of this until later. Taking account of the delay, the company selects the quarter-year tax period when it submits its application for VAT registration on 15 July. The Tax Administration enters the company into the register with the retroactive start date of 1 April 2025. For a company reporting VAT every quarter, the due date for VAT returns and VAT payments for April—June is 12 August. The company files its VAT return for the April—May quarter and pays the VAT by the due date. It does not have to pay any late-payment charges.
If the company had selected a tax period of one month, the returns and payments for April and May would already have been late. The company would have had to pay late-payment charges for them.
You can check the company’s liability for VAT in the Business Information System (BIS). Go to the Business Information System.
The service shows you when the company’s registration became effective and what registers the company has been entered in.
Note: If you have started business operations, you will see your company’s details in the service after the Tax Administration has processed your registration request.
If you need a certificate to prove that your business enterprise is a VAT-registered company, you can log in to MyTax to ask for it: first open the Tax matters tab, then select Certificate of VAT liability under the Certificates section.