Tax refunds – individual taxpayers
This guidance is for individual taxpayers and the self-employed. Guidance on tax refunds paid to corporate entities is available here.
Starting in 2019, the annual tax assessment ends at different times for different people. Your personal end date is stated in your tax decision. The end date determines when you receive your tax refund or when you must pay your back taxes.
Please note that you will no longer be able to credit tax refunds to your spouse.
How much tax refund will I get?
You can see your refund amount in MyTax and in your tax decision. Most individual taxpayers receive their tax decision during the spring of 2019 both in MyTax and by post. If you have activated electronic messages from the authorities in Suomi.fi, you will receive your tax decision only in MyTax.
When will I receive my refund?
Your tax refund will be paid to you in the time between July and December. Most individual taxpayers will receive their tax refund on 6 August 2019.
The refund date depends on when the end date of your tax assessment is, what changes you have made to your tax return, and what changes your spouse has made to their tax return. You can see your refund date in MyTax and in your tax decision. You can log in to MyTax with your personal online banking codes or a mobile certificate.
- See instructions: How to check your tax refund in MyTax
- Watch video: How to view your tax refund details in MyTax
- See the different tax refund dates: Important dates for individual taxpayers
Please note: If there are changes to your taxation, your tax refund amount and refund date may also change.
Why wasn’t my tax refund paid on time?
The date or amount of your refund can change if you have made additions or corrections to your tax return or your spouse has made changes to their return. Your refund date will also be postponed if the Tax Administration does not have your correct bank account number. Your tax refund may also have been used to pay for your overdue taxes.
Read more about why you have not received your tax refund.
Tax refunds include interest
The Tax Administration pays interest on your refunds. However, the interest is not included in the amount on the tax decision. The Tax Administration will add the interest to your refund when paying it to you. In 2019, the refund interest rate is 0.5%.
Frequently asked questions
If you or your spouse make changes to the tax return, the tax assessment process will take longer, and the refund date and due dates for back taxes will therefore be postponed. In that case, you will receive a new tax decision. The decision will include your new refund date or new due dates for your back taxes along with the details for payment. At the latest, your refund date or first due date for back taxes is in December.
There is no longer a single refund date for all taxpayers. Previously, everyone received their refund on the same date in December after the end of tax assessment. However, now the tax assessment process ends at different times for different people. You will receive your refund within two months after your personal tax assessment end date. Most people will now receive their tax refunds in August. However, some may receive their refund in December as before.
If you have not submitted your bank account number to the Tax Administration in time, your tax refund is paid to you as a money order. If your refund has already been transferred to the bank to be cashed as a money order, the Tax Administration cannot pay it to your bank account.
You have 28 days to cash your money order. The time limit starts on the date stated on the order. If you do not cash the money order, the bank will transfer the tax refund back to the Tax Administration. After this, we can pay the refund to your bank account within a week if you have sent us your bank account number. You can submit your bank account number in MyTax.
Between your tax assessment end date and the 4th of the following month, your tax refund can be used to pay for any unpaid taxes you may have. The amount of unpaid taxes is deducted from the refund amount. Tax refunds are also used for taxes that are in a payment arrangement.
You can see how your tax refund has been used in your tax summary. The summary is compiled at the end of each month. Read more about the summary.
If you pay your instalment of inheritance tax before its due date (the 1st of the month), your payment is used for the inheritance tax. If you make your payment on the due date or after it, the Tax Administration uses your tax refund to pay for this instalment of inheritance tax. The extra amount you have paid will be used for your next instalments of inheritance tax. If you have already paid all the instalments, and you have no other overdue taxes or debts in enforcement, the remaining amount will be refunded to you within a week.
If you pay your self-assessed taxes on their due date (the 12th of the month), there is not enough time for the payment to arrive at the Tax Administration on the same day. Under the act on tax collection (Veronkantolaki 609/2005), a taxpayer’s tax refund must be used on the taxpayer’s overdue taxes before refunding it. If your payment has not arrived at the Tax Administration on the due date, the tax is considered overdue and the unpaid amount must be taken from your refund.
If you have paid too much, the remaining amount will be used to pay for other upcoming taxes or refunded to you automatically. For these situations, you can select your refund time and refund limit in MyTax. Read more about refunds of self-assessed taxes.
You can request a refund of a payment you have made even if you have selected in MyTax that your payments should be used to pay for upcoming taxes. Select “Requesting refunds, self-assessed taxes” under Activities and enter the required details. You will receive your refund within a week, unless you have other overdue taxes.
If you have made the prepayment but we have already used your tax refund to pay for the same prepayment instalment, we will use your extra payment to pay for the next upcoming prepayment instalments (or other income taxes). You can check how much you have left to pay in MyTax. If you have no more income tax payable and no other overdue taxes or debts in enforcement, we will refund the extra payment to you automatically.
Your refund can be used to settle any taxes you are accountable for. The amount of unpaid taxes will therefore be deducted from your refund amount.
If we use your refund to pay for a partnership’s tax debt, we will notify you as well as the partnership.