Buyer of a parking space, etc. – complete the return and pay the transfer tax
After you buy shares in a housing company or real estate company that entitle you to own a parking space, storage room, business premises or other space, complete the transfer tax return and pay the tax.
File the return
File the transfer tax return in 2 months from signing the contract. If a realtor assists you when you buy a parking space or other space, it is the realtor’s responsibility to file the transfer tax return.
- If you buy together with a co-buyer – typically your spouse – everyone who is a buyer must submit a transfer tax return as well.
- To complete the return, you should have the purchase and sale agreement or other contract on hand. You may need the building manager’s certificate (isännöitsijäntodistus; disponentintyg) as well.
- However, you generally do not have to add very many enclosures. In MyTax, a window will appear that tells you whether an additional enclosure must be attached or whether it is enough if you just complete the tax return.
How to file a transfer tax return in MyTax
The paper-printed form can be used by individual taxpayers, general partnerships and limited partnerships. If the paper form is filed, you must enclose a photocopy of the contract.
Pay the tax
Pay the transfer tax in 2 months from signing the contract. For example, if you receive a realtor’s assistance to buy a parking space, pay the tax when you sign the contract.
- If you use MyTax to send the payment, reference numbers and other bank details are automatically transferred to the template for processing by your e-banking service. MyTax calculates the amount of transfer tax.
- If you pay via your personal e-bank instead, you need the bank account number for the Tax Administration and the bank reference number for transfer tax. To get the bank account and reference numbers, you can:
- Check them in MyTax: Click the Your tax types tab on the home page. Go to Payment status and click Paying taxes. You can find the reference number and the Tax Administration bank account numbers in the Transfer tax section under Other payment methods.
- Call the service telephone number +35829 497 026 (Payment transactions, limited service available in English, standard call rates)
The amount of tax to pay must have 2 decimal points. After you have made the necessary calculations to arrive at the right tax, round it out to the nearest cent as usual. Example: your calculation result is €345.67890. You must round out the result in order to pay €345,68 as your tax.
If there is more than one buyer – two spouses, for example – each must pay their own share of the transfer tax on a separate bank transfer and enter their personal reference numbers. The amount will be displayed as a paid tax in MyTax on the following business day or the day after that.
Buyers in foreign countries – requesting a bank reference number
You receive a certificate of transfer tax
You will receive a certificate on filed and paid transfer tax in MyTax or by post. Normally, after you have filed and paid, the certificate will appear in MyTax in 2 days. Finding the certificate in MyTax. If you file your return on paper, wait for the certificate of transfer tax to become available in MyTax a little later.
If a realtor assists you when you buy the shares for the parking space or other space, you get the certificate proving the payment of the transfer tax from the realtor (the estate agent’s office). MyTax does not contain the certificate if the realtor issued it.
Make sure that the transfer of title is recorded in your name
You can ask the manager whether the housing company’s information is in the new Property Information System. The National Land Survey maintains this system.
If your housing company is on the Property Information System, submit an application to the National Land Survey for registration of your ownership. See guidance for registration.
Make sure that the detailed information on your application for registration matches that on your transfer tax return. It is especially important to match the date when you signed the deed of sale (contract) for buying the parking space, etc. with the receival date (saantopäivä; datum för åtkomst/förvärv) on the application form. When you have made sure of the above, the National Land Survey will receive the information from the Tax Administration. Your name can then be recorded as the shareholder and owner.
If the company’s lists of shares and shareholders are not recorded in the new system, show the building manager the certificate. It proves that you paid the tax. Taxpayers who have submitted the transfer tax return form before 1 November 2019 receive a stamped copy of the submitted return from the Tax Administration, and they can use it as their certificate. Ask the manager about any other documentation they might require for having your name entered in the list of shareholders.
Parking space and other spaces – how much is the tax?
Transfer tax is 1.5% of the price (including any other consideration that had been agreed) and the unpaid part of any housing-company loan. The tax is 2% if the contract – or other binding agreement of transfer – was signed before 12 October 2023.
The “debt-free price” (velaton hinta; skuldfritt pris) contains both the price of the space itself and the part representing the housing-company loan, if any. In other words, transfer tax is collected on the debt-free amount even though you might actually pay up the specific part of the housing-company loan when you sign the contract. It is not important whether you pay up the specific part of the housing-company loan when you sign the contract or whether you pay it in small instalments every month.
You can use the transfer tax calculator to help with your calculations.
Example: Sandy buys a parking space in 2024 paying €10,000 for it. This the “selling price” – myyntihinta – as advertised. There is a loan balance of €2,000 allocated by the housing company to the shares that entitle Sandy to the parking. This means that the debt-free price is €12,000. The €12,000 is the base for transfer tax. Accordingly, the tax is 1.5% × €12,000 = €180. It makes no difference whether Sandy pays off her part of the company loan when buying the parking space, or gradually as part of the monthly charge.
The first-time homebuyer’s exemption does cover parking spaces
The first-time homebuyer's tax exemption which was available for purchases up to 1 January 2024, only applies to a permanent home. When you buy your first home, you may also buy a parking space or storage room together with it. Nevertheless, they are left outside the exemption if the shares for parking and storage spaces can be sold separately (there are specific series of shares for them).
Read more about first-time homebuyers’ exemption from transfer tax (In Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish.)
Frequently asked questions
Transfer taxation has only been handled in MyTax as of 8 November 2019. In MyTax, you can see:
- Any returns and notices you have submitted in MyTax.
- Any paper transfer tax returns you have submitted after 1 November 2019 on paper forms released at that time or later. In general, there is always a delay before a paper return becomes available for viewing in MyTax.
When you have used a transfer tax return, a certificate of your transfer tax will be stored in MyTax for viewing after both the return and the payment have been recorded in the Tax Administration’s data system. Finding the certificate in MyTax
If the housing-company shares are the type that entitle you to start living in a flat of the housing company, hand the certificate over to the building manager. This enables the building manager to enter your name in the list of shareholders.
If a realtor assists you when you buy the shares in a housing company, you will receive the certificate proving the payment of the transfer tax from the realtor (the estate agent’s office). MyTax does not contain the certificate if the realtor issued it. In the case of “new construction”, if you bought the shares for a newly built flat, you must submit the transfer tax return independently. After you have done that, the certificate will be stored in MyTax for viewing.
Older tax returns
You cannot view the return in MyTax if you submitted it before November 2019, with the old paper form. Please do not re-submit the return. If you need a copy of such a return, i.e. the one with a stamp on, please call the service number on +35829 497 022 (transfer taxes); sometimes the superintendent of a housing company may demand that you show a stamped form.
If a space for parking or storage is part of the contract, remember to pay the transfer tax on it and remember to include the parking or storage in the information you report on the transfer tax return.
If the contract contains a breakdown of the price of the parking or storage space, fill in the specific price information in your transfer tax return.
In general, transfer tax must be paid in 2 months from the date of purchase of shares in a housing company i.e. from signing the contract. If a realtor assists you, transfer tax must be paid immediately when the contract is signed. These deadlines are the same even if there is a clause for redemption in the housing company’s articles of association.
If a third-party buyer comes forward, invoking their rights as a redeemer of the flat you were going to acquire, that buyer must pay the transfer tax and file a tax return on it in two months after redemption. In this case, you will no longer be the buyer and you can ask for refund of any transfer tax you may have paid.
If you need to make corrections to the information you submitted, submit a replacement. You can do this in MyTax or send a paper transfer tax return that replaces your original return. In this case, you must not only correct the mistakes but also complete the other spaces on the form again.
How to make corrections to a transfer tax return in MyTax
If you submit a replacement on paper, remember to tick the “Replacement transfer tax return” box on the first page.
Note: if you submit the replacement past the deadline date for transfer taxes, the Tax Administration may impose a late-filing penalty or punitive tax increase.
If by this time, you already paid the transfer tax, look up the specific guide for correcting payment and the submitted return.
If you submit the transfer tax return late, the Tax Administration may impose a late-filing penalty or punitive tax increase. If you do not pay your transfer tax on time, you must pay interest. Read more about transfer tax return or payments that are overdue.
First, do not forget to complete the tax return and pay the transfer tax accordingly.
Because your housing company is in the new Property Information System, you must submit an application for registration of your ownership to the National Land Survey. The National Land Survey will get the information confirming your payment of the tax automatically, so there is no need to show a paper certificate to your building manager.