Due dates for filing and paying transfer tax
The time limits will vary. The deadline for filing and paying your transfer tax depends on the type of property you have acquired and on certain other circumstances.
Category of property or asset
File the transfer tax return to the Tax Administration and pay the tax before you apply for the registration of title to the property. You must apply for the registration of title or leasehold right from the National Land Survey of Finland within 6 months from the signing of the deed of sale or other agreement.
It is the buyer’s responsibility to file the transfer tax return even if the sale was conducted through a real estate agent.
If you bought your first home before 1 January 2024, remember to file a transfer tax return even if you do not have to pay transfer tax. First-time homebuyers are no longer exempt from transfer tax as of 1 January 2024. Read more about the treatment of a real estate unit (a house) as a first-time home.
File the transfer tax return and pay the tax within 6 months from signing the deed of sale or other agreement. It is the buyer’s responsibility to file the transfer tax return even if the sale was conducted through a real estate agent.
You do not have to apply to the National Land Survey for registration of title.
File the transfer tax return and pay the tax within 2 months from signing the deed of sale or other agreement.
If you bought the shares through a real estate agent, pay the tax when you sign the agreement. The real estate agent will file the transfer tax return on your behalf when the agreement is signed.
If the sale concerns a newly-constructed building, file the return and pay the tax within 2 months from the date when the right of ownership is transferred to you. This applies even if the sale has been conducted through a real estate agent.
If you bought your first home before 1 January 2024, remember to file a transfer tax return even if you do not have to pay transfer tax. The first-time homebuyer's tax exemption only applies to dwellings used for permanent living. First-time homebuyers are no longer exempt from transfer tax as of 1 January 2024.
Shares in other real estate companies are shares that do not entitle you to possess a certain space in a building or real estate unit owned by the company. They can also be shares in a real estate holding company in Finland or abroad.
File the transfer tax return and pay the tax within 2 months from the date when the deed of sale or other agreement was signed (or, in the case of a newly-constructed building, when the right of ownership was transferred to you).
File the transfer tax return and pay the tax within 2 months from the date when the deed of sale or other agreement was signed.
File the transfer tax return and pay the tax within 2 months from the date when the deed of sale or other agreement was signed.
If you bought a holiday time share through a real estate agent, they will file the transfer tax return on your behalf when the agreement is signed. Pay the transfer tax at the signing of the agreement.
If the time share you bought is in a newly-constructed building, file the return yourself and pay the tax within 2 months from the date when the right of ownership is transferred to you. This applies even if the sale has been conducted through a real estate agent.
The time limits that apply on returns filed by securities dealers and auctioneers
Dealers who carry out security trading services must collect transfer tax from the buyer on any sales, conveyances and transfers of securities at the signing of the contract.
If you are a security dealer, you must file a transfer tax return on such transactions by the 15th of the month following the month when the sale, conveyance or transfer takes place. You must file a specific transfer tax return for every contract.
Pay the collected transfer tax on to the Tax Administration by the 15th of the following month. Use your personal reference number for transfer taxes when paying.
Shares in housing companies, parking spots, storage spaces, business premises, and other spaces – tax rate 1.5% (2% before 12 October 2023)
The buyer must pay transfer tax immediately when the deed of sale is signed, using their personal reference number for transfer tax. When the buyer pays the tax, they must also file a transfer tax return. The return must be filed in the buyer’s name within 2 months from the date when the deed of sale was signed.
If the buyer has not paid the tax, the auctioneer will collect it from the buyer. If the auctioneer collects the tax, they must then pay it to the Tax Administration using their own reference number for transfer taxes. The transfer tax return must also be filed in the auctioneer’s name.
In order for the payment to be allocated correctly, it is important that the same party both files the transfer tax return and pays the tax.
Real estate units, designated shares, parcels of land, leasehold rights, buildings or structures without land – tax rate 3% (4% before 12 October 2023)
The buyer must file the transfer tax return and pay the tax within 6 months from the signing of the deed of sale. Auctioneers are not obligated to collect transfer tax for real estate units.
The buyer must apply for the registration of title or leasehold right from the National Land Survey of Finland within 6 months from the signing of the deed of sale or other agreement. The transfer tax return must be filed and the tax must be paid before the buyer can apply for the registration of title or leasehold right.
Frequently asked questions
The purchase of property may be conducted digitally so that all parties sign the deed of sale digitally at different times. In these cases, the deed of sale is considered to enter into effect when the final signature is added. The date of the final signature is entered on the transfer tax return as the date when the deed of sale or other transfer agreement was signed.
In the amended act on transfer tax, the date of the final signature also determines which transfer tax rate is applied and whether the first-time homebuyer’s transfer tax exemption applies.
The date of contract is when the agreement is finalised. This means the moment when the digital signature of the last person who is expected to sign the deed has done so. That date and time must be recorded on the transfer tax return as the “date when the deed of sale or other contract is signed”.
Because the Property Transaction Service creates an electronic application for registration automatically, and because the deadline for transfer tax filing and payment is the time when registration is requested, the buyer must take care of the filing and payment at the time when the agreement is finalised.