Claim for adjustment of transfer tax
This guidance is for both individual and corporate taxpayers.
You can request a review of the Tax Administration’s decisions on transfer tax. The decisions include a decision to impose transfer tax and a decision regarding a transfer tax refund.
Adjustment of a preliminary ruling on transfer tax is claimed in another way. Read more about how to appeal against preliminary rulings (the guidance is available in Finnish and Swedish).
Instructions on claims for adjustment
When is it possible to claim adjustment?
You can file a claim for adjustment within 3 years from the beginning of the calendar year following the tax year. ‘Tax year’ means the calendar year during which you bought a real estate unit, securities or other assets, or when your liability to pay transfer tax started for another reason.
However, if you receive a decision on transfer tax at the end of the 3-year period, you will have 60 days to claim adjustment.
If the last day of the year is a Saturday or Sunday, the deadline is the next business day. The claim for adjustment must arrive at the Finnish Tax Administration by 4.15 pm on the due date.
| Year when you acquired property | Claim for adjustment must arrive by |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 December 2024 |
| 2022 | 31 December 2025 |
| 2023 | 31 December 2026 |
Example: Janne bought an apartment on 1 February 2023. He filed and paid too much transfer tax by mistake. He filed a refund application on the transfer tax he had paid in excess, and received a decision on the application on 1 June 2023. He can claim adjustment of the decision made on the refund application by 31 December 2026 at the latest.
How to claim adjustment
You can claim adjustment of transfer tax in MyTax.
- Log in to MyTax and select the Tax matters tab.
- At Claims for adjustment, click All adjustment matters.
- Click Claim for adjustment to the Assessment Adjustment Board (all tax types).
- Select the tax type that the claim for adjustment concerns.
- Select the decision that your claim concerns. If there are many decisions available, you can search for a decision by the decision date.
Fill in the details relevant to your claim for adjustment. At the end of the page, you can attach any documents you wish to refer to. Finally, submit the claim.
If you cannot use MyTax: you can claim adjustment by submitting a paper form or a free-form claim on paper.
After claiming adjustment
Pay the transfer tax by the due date even if you have claimed adjustment. If necessary, you can request a payment arrangement or an order preventing enforced recovery of your tax debt.
You can follow the processing of your request in MyTax: Go to the Communication tab, select Status of returns and requests and then View the processing status.
After your claim for adjustment has been processed, a decision on the matter will be delivered to MyTax and to your home address. The decision contains the details you need to make the payment, or information about the transfer tax to be refunded to you. Check the estimated processing time.
More information and instructions on claims for adjustment
Yes, you must pay your taxes on their due date even if you have claimed adjustment. Interest for late payment is collected on unpaid taxes.
Call the Finnish Tax Administration’s service number +358 29 497 026 (Maksuliikenne) for the payment details. You can also check the details you need for making payments in MyTax: How to pay taxes in MyTax.
If you have difficulties paying your taxes by the due date, we recommend finding out whether you are eligible for a payment arrangement. Read more on requesting a payment arrangement
If your claim for adjustment is accepted and you have no other tax debt, the tax you paid in excess will be automatically refunded to you with interest.
A suspension of enforcement means that your taxes are not transferred to enforcement or that an already started enforcement is suspended for the time your claim for adjustment is processed. You can request for the suspension of enforcement either simultaneously with your claim for adjustment, or afterwards.
If you intend to pay the tax in full regardless of having claimed adjustment, we do not recommend requesting a suspension of enforcement.
If you request a suspension of enforcement, keep the following in mind:
- Late-payment interest will be collected on the tax for the duration of the suspension as well, i.e. starting from the original due date of the tax until the date you pay the tax.
- Tax refunds cannot be used towards back taxes during the suspension.
- You cannot obtain a tax debt certificate or a certificate of paid taxes during the suspension.
The suspension of enforcement can be full or partial.
The enforcement of a tax can be suspended in two ways:
- Full suspension: The taxes are not transferred to enforcement and your tax refunds or any payments you have made to the Finnish Tax Administration are not used.
- Partial suspension: Your tax refunds and any payments you have made to the Finnish Tax Administration can be used towards the payment of your taxes, the taxes can be transferred to enforcement and your other assets may be seized as well. However, the National Enforcement Authority may not sell the seized assets before your case is processed.
The enforcement of taxes can only be fully suspended if the unpaid taxes have not yet been transferred to the National Enforcement Authority.
If your claim for adjustment is rejected, your request for non-enforcement is rejected, as well. In this case, the unpaid tax can be transferred to enforcement. However, while your claim for adjustment is being processed, the National Enforcement Authority may not sell any seized property, a housing-company apartment, or shares in a jointly administered real estate.
You can cancel a claim for adjustment fully or partially. In MyTax, go to the ‘Tax matters’ tab. Select ‘Cancel a claim for adjustment’ under ‘Claims for adjustment’.
Yes, the Finnish Tax Administration can adjust your taxes on its own initiative after your tax assessment end date. This happens if the Tax Administration receives information afterwards that affects your taxation. As a result, you might receive tax refund, or it may be that you are ordered to pay more tax. Besides income taxes, the adjustments on the Tax Administration's initiative can concern income tax, real estate tax, value-added taxes, employer's contributions, and other types of taxes.
The Tax Administration can adjust your taxation within the same deadline that is applied to taxpayers’ claims for adjustment, i.e. within three years of the start of the tax year following the relevant tax year.
In some cases, the Tax Administration is allowed to extend the deadline by 1 year, and in some rare cases by 6 years.
The deadlines will also change in a situation where the need to adjust taxes is due to a criminal investigation process.
If you are unhappy with an adjustment made on the Tax Administration’s initiative, you can submit a claim for adjustment to request a review.
A decision on a claim for adjustment can be requested to be rectified by lodging an appeal to the administrative court. The deadline and instructions for appealing are in the appeal instructions appended to the decision.
Key terms: