Real estate agent’s transfer tax return

You can file the real estate agent’s transfer tax return in MyTax.

Log in to MyTax with your online banking codes or mobile certificate. After logging in, select Report or request information in a limited scope. You do not need a separate authorisation in order to file the transfer tax return. MyTax will require you to fill in the details of the real estate agency on the return.

Other options for filing

Alternatively, you can file the transfer tax return directly from your software, if you have an API to the Tax Administration’s systems.

Lomake.fi closed down on 31 December 2023. Transfer tax returns can no longer be filed in Lomake.fi and previous returns cannot be accessed.

File a transfer tax return when the sale is made

As the real estate agent, you must file a transfer tax return electronically when the sales contract is signed. If there is a technical reason or another such obstacle that prevents you from filing the return when the contract is signed, you must file the return without delay as soon as you are able. In this case, the return will still be considered to have been filed in connection with the signing of the contract.

Please note that you must file a separate transfer tax return for every buyer. If there are multiple buyers, such as two spouses buying a home together, you cannot include all of their information in the same return.

As the real estate agent, you are responsible for filing transfer tax returns. If you file late, you must pay a late-filing penalty or a punitive tax increase.

The buyer is responsible for filing and paying transfer tax when buying a real estate unit

Real estate agents’ filing obligation does not extend to sales concerning units of real estate, such as detached houses. If the property that the sales contract concerns is a real estate unit, the buyer is responsible for filing the transfer tax return. If the subject of sale is a real estate unit, you cannot file a real estate agent’s transfer tax return for it in MyTax or via an API. In addition, you are not liable for making sure that the transfer tax is paid when the sales contract is signed.

The buyer of the real estate unit must file a transfer tax return and pay the transfer tax before applying for the registration or transfer of title to the property. The buyer must apply for registration or transfer of title from the National Land Survey of Finland within 6 months from the signing of the deed of sale or other contract. The buyer must have filed and paid transfer tax to the Tax Administration before the title can be registered or transferred.

The buyer must also file the return when buying newly constructed properties

If the sale concerns housing company shares in a newly-built unit and if the right of ownership is transferred to the buyer after the construction of the unit is completed, the buyer must file the transfer tax return and pay the transfer tax within 2 months from the transfer of ownership rights.

The real estate agent cannot report sales of newly-built units in MyTax or via API. Read more about newly-built units

Buyer’s reference number is required for payment

If a housing company share, a parking space, or other such property is sold through a real estate agent, the buyer must pay the transfer tax when the sales contract is signed. In order to make the payment, the buyer needs their own reference number for transfer tax.

In connection with the signing of the sales contract, the buyer can pay the tax in MyTax. This way, their reference number and other information needed for paying the tax will be filled in automatically on the payment template in the buyer’s e-bank.

If the tax is paid in an e-bank, make sure to check the buyer’s reference number before the conclusion of the sale.

If you are the buyer, you can log in to MyTax to see your reference number, the Tax Administration’s bank account number, and other information you need for paying the tax. Alternatively, you can call the Tax Administration service number 029 497 026 (Payment transactions, limited service available in English, standard call rates). How to find the buyer’s reference number in MyTax.
If you are the real estate agent, you can ask for the reference number and the Tax Administration’s bank account number on your client’s behalf by calling the Tax Administration service number 029 497 026. You need the buyer’s personal ID or Business ID to receive their reference number. If the software you use has an API to the Tax Administration, you can ask for the buyer’s reference number for transfer tax in real time.

Reference number for a foreign individual or company

If the buyer is based outside Finland and their information is not in the Tax Administration’s registers, they must be registered with the Tax Administration before the sales contract is concluded so that they can receive the reference number for transfer tax.

Do the housing company’s articles of association contain a redemption clause?

If the housing company’s articles of association contain a redemption clause and the sale is conducted through a real estate agent, the buyer must pay the transfer tax immediately in connection with the signing of the sales contract. The real estate agent files the transfer tax return when the contract is signed.

If someone else redeems the shares after the sale, as the articles of association allow, the original buyer can request the transfer tax to be refunded.

Provide the buyer with proof of transfer tax payment

The real estate agent must provide their client with proof that the transfer tax has been paid.

If the transfer tax return was filed in MyTax, print out or save a summary of the submitted information and give the summary to your client as proof that the tax has been paid. The summary will also show the time when the return was filed and the return’s processing number. The filer of the return can find the summary on the front page, under Status of returns and requests: first select the return based on the filing date, and then click the Open as file (pdf) link.
If you filed the transfer tax return directly from your software via API, print a summary of the filed data from your software, including the filing date and the return identifier.
If the transfer tax return was filed in Lomake.fi, you can no longer get the confirmation of receipt from that service. Lomake.fi closed down on 31 December 2023.

Frequently asked questions

If you filed the return in MyTax:
See the instructions for making corrections to a transfer tax return in MyTax

If you filed the return in Lomake.fi:

The online form in Lomake.fi is no longer in use. You can make corrections to your transfer tax return by filing a replacement return in MyTax.

If you filed the return from your software via API:

If something needs to be corrected in the return you have filed, you can make the correction yourself via the API provided that the software developer has updated this feature to your software. In this case, file a replacement return. When filing the replacement return, specify the original transfer tax return that the new return is intended to replace. When you file the replacement return, you must fill in all the required information again.

The Tax Administration has APIs for the purposes of real-time requests for reference numbers and for the filing of transfer tax returns. These APIs enable securities brokers and real estate agents to request the buyer’s transfer tax reference number and file transfer tax returns directly through their own software.

Contact your software provider to ask if your software is compatible with APIs. If no API for these purposes has yet been developed for your software, instruct your software provider to contact the Tax Administration at ohjelmistotalot(at)vero.fi. We will then provide instructions on how to develop the API.

If the software you use is incompatible with APIs, you can file the transfer tax return in MyTax.

When a share in a housing company is sold through a real estate agent, the transfer tax must be paid when the sales contract is signed.

The event in which the contract is signed and the sale is concluded may be organised on an electronic transaction platform instead of a face-to-face meeting. In this case, transfer tax is considered paid at the conclusion of the sale if the buyer pays the transfer tax within seven days after all parties to the sale have signed the deed of sale electronically.