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Information and examples are provided below concerning the way the Tax Administration may apply a refundable amount on an individual’s or a self-employed person’s taxes.
If the records show that you have left taxes unpaid past their due dates, the Tax Administration will settle them with the money that would otherwise be refunded.
The period when this can take place will begin on the day when your assessment has ended, to continue up to the 4th of the next month. “End of assessment” refers to the date when the Tax Administration’s taxation process is ended. By that date, all corrections, additions, and other changes to your tax return will be completed.
Example: In spring, Hanna receives her Pre-completed tax return with a tax decision, indicating the date when the tax assessment will end. The date is 10 June. There is no need for Hanna to make any corrections with regard to the assessment for the tax year concerned. As a result, the date of 10 June will remain in force as her end date of assessment.
It is possible for the Tax Administration to use Hanna’s refund for settling any unpaid taxes from 10 June, up to 4 July. However, if no unpaid, overdue taxes are recorded for Hanna, she will receive the tax refund in full. The date when it comes to her bank account will be in August.
Yes. Taxes payable by self-employed people who operate a trade or business are treated as taxes for which a natural person is responsible for. For this reason, it may be that the Tax Administration applies an amount that would otherwise be refunded on an unpaid tax.
Yes. If a payment arrangement has been made, it is possible that your taxes being part of your payment plan will be covered by a refund.
Read more about the use of tax refunds when the taxpayer has a payment arrangement in force
You can use MyTax to check whether a refund has been used. If this has taken place, you will see it immediately on the Payments and refunds made page.
MyTax instructions: How to see in MyTax if your tax refund has been used for paying taxes
In general, when you send the Tax Administration a payment, there will be a delay of 1 or 2 days before it is recorded. Because of the delay, after you have paid a tax exactly on the due date, for example, the Tax Administration’s database will not yet show it. As a result, an amount that would otherwise be refunded can be used for settling a tax on the due date of the tax.
In situations where a payment from you is already on record, the Tax Administration will apply it on the tax. The refundable amount will not be used. After this, the Tax Administration will transfer it into your bank account.
Sometimes, this will mean that you receive the refund in more than one instalments. If so, the reason is that there were several taxes to pay, and parts of the refundable balance were applied on them. Alternatively, the reason may be that the Tax Administration only used a certain part of the refundable balance.
The situation in this example involves the following due dates:
The following is an outline of how a refund is processed when you pay an inheritance tax on its due date:
During June, you receive the Tax Administration’s tax decision indicating that you are getting €1,000 as a tax refund. The scheduled date for it is 3 August.
Let us assume that the amount is €600. The 600-euro inheritance tax will fall due for payment on 1 July.
The Tax Administration will use part of the refund on the inheritance tax on 1 July although you made a payment on the due date.
The payment you sent (the €600) to the Tax Administration will take 1 or 2 days before it is recorded. For this reason, the Tax Administration will use part of the refund on the inheritance tax immediately on 1 July, which is its due date. When the payment from you has been recorded, the Tax Administration will apply it on the inheritance tax. The refundable amount will not be used. After this, the Tax Administration will transfer the unused amount into your bank account.
The remaining refund amount (€400) will be transferred on the schedule date for refunding.
The Tax Administration will transfer €400 into your bank account on 3 August.