Incomes Register combats undeclared work

Combating undeclared work is something for which we are all responsible. Undeclared work is a form of grey economy. In general, grey economy refers to situations where an employer or some other payer neglects their statutory contributions and obligations.

Payers are obligated to report to the Incomes Register the wages, fees, fringe benefits, reimbursements of expenses, non-wage compensations for work and other earned income that they have paid. This ensures the employees' right to social security and appropriate pay. Additionally, compliance with occupational health and safety regulations is monitored with the help of Incomes Register data. A payer can also be some other party than the typical employer: other types of payers include, for example, households, associations and housing companies.

Employer: report the wages you have paid to the Incomes Register

Employers, households, associations or some other payers can have someone work undeclared knowingly or unknowingly. You build a reputation as a reliable employer when you report wages and other earned income to the Incomes Register. By declaring work to the authorities, you provide protection for your employees even during difficult times. This is also in your company's interests. Properly reported income data provides safety for us all.

Remember to also report occasional reimbursements to the Incomes Register. By doing so you make sure that the social benefits and, later on, pension of fixed-term workers, students, part-time pensioners, and other temporary employees will be determined correctly.

Comply with workers' rights and take care of the statutory employer obligations.
Report earnings payment data to the Incomes Register. This will have a positive effect on your employees and on the atmosphere of the workplace.
Act in time. By following the deadlines, you will avoid penalty fees.

Comprehensive real-time data helps combat undeclared work

The Incomes Register makes it possible to combat undeclared work in real time and in a transparent manner. Payers report data within five calendar days of the payment date. Data on each payment transaction and income earner is reported separately.

The authorities are able to receive the data they need in real time. Any deficiencies in the data are noticed right away, whereas earlier they would have been discovered only after a long time.

Incomes Register data is utilised widely throughout society, for example, in taxation, benefit and pension decisions, unemployment allowance decisions, statistics, and duties related to occupational health and safety. The data is used by, for example, the Finnish Tax Administration, earnings-related pension providers, the Finnish Centre for Pensions, Employment Fund, the Social Insurance Institution (Kela), non-life insurance providers, unemployment funds, municipalities, occupational safety and health authorities, and Statistics Finland.

Starting from 2021, pensions and benefits payment data will also be reported to the Incomes Register. The wage income, pension income and taxable benefits income reported to the Incomes Register cover about 90% of all taxable income of the income earners in Finland. This is because certain types of income are excluded from the reporting obligation. In most cases, however, the Incomes Register provides a comprehensive overview on income: in about two out of three cases, the income reported to the Incomes Register is an exact match to the income earner's total income.

At the moment, 99% of reports are submitted to the Incomes Register electronically and out of these the majority is transmitted directly from payroll systems. Electronic reporting improves the quality and consistency of data.

Employee: you can check your own income data in the Incomes Register

Every income earner can view their own earnings payment data in the Incomes Register's e-service in real time. Starting from 2021, income earners can also view their benefits and pensions data. Employees can check in the Incomes Register whether their employers have fulfilled their reporting obligations.

Make sure your employer reports the wages they pay. By knowing your rights, you can protect yourself against undeclared work.
Note that the earnings payment data reported to the Incomes Register affects, for example, your social security and other benefits, as well as the determination of your pension.
Contact your employer if you notice any errors in your income data or that some data is missing from the Incomes Register. The payer is obligated to correct any possible errors or omissions. Data is stored in the Incomes Register for 10 years.
Insist on your right to declared work. This is all the more important during difficult times.

Watch video: How to use the Incomes Register - My Incomes Register (YouTube, 7:09 min)

Combating undeclared work is everyone's business. The Incomes Register, in its part, helps create and support an effective way of carrying out official duties in Finland.

The Incomes Register participates in the #EU4FairWork campaign. The campaign is raising awareness of the benefits of declared work among employers and employees as well as informing decision-makers about the importance of preventing undeclared work. Authorities together with organisations are on board with this EU-wide campaign. Follow the campaign on social media #EU4FairWork.

Page last updated 9/21/2020