Tax numbers are required at construction sites and shipyards
Everyone working at a construction site or on an installation project or at a shipyard must have a tax number. Everyone working at a construction site or a shipyard must wear a photo ID displaying their tax number. You can see your tax number on your tax card or in MyTax.
Finnish employees
Your tax number is not automatically added to the register of tax numbers, but you can add it there yourself in MyTax. After login, select the Communication tab, then click Taxpayer details and Tax number.
How to add your tax number to the tax number register yourself in MyTax
If you do not have a tax number, you have lost your tax number, or you wish to request the registration of your tax number:
- call the service line for tax numbers 029 497 070 (standard call rates)
- visit a Tax Administration office
Foreign employees
You must have a Finnish personal ID before you can get a tax number. First, make an appointment for visiting the tax office, and get the identity code at the tax office.
Appointments can be booked in MyTax or through the telephone service number Registration of foreign employees +358 29 497 010. Without an appointment, the waiting times are longer.
The processing time, on the condition that all your information and documents are made available to the Tax Administration, is normally from 1 to 3 business days.
Apply for a personal ID and a tax number at a tax office. Fill in a registration notice (6150e) in advance of your visit to the tax office.
Read more:
Tax offices that provide Finnish personal IDs
Some of the information you give will be recorded by the Tax Administration for your taxation. This information includes
- details on your employer or commissioner
- the length of your stay and work in Finland
- the amount of wages or income you receive
- the type of your employment or commission (whether you are a leased employee, self-employed or have an employment contract)
You can speed up the process by filling in one of these forms in advance:
- If you are staying in Finland for 6 months or less:
Non-resident's application for tax at source card, tax card, tax prepayment or tax number (5057e) - If you are staying longer:
Application for tax card, tax prepayment or tax number – current or former foreign residents (5042e)
When you visit your tax office, you need to present the necessary documentation so that we can identify you and make sure that you can be registered. Your home country determines the documents we need.
You must take with you
- a valid passport or official proof of identity with a photograph, from which you can be easily identified
- your employment contract
If your employment contract does not describe the work to be done in Finland, your employer must write a report that includes the following information:
- name of employee and name of employer
- what work you do in Finland
- the time period you will be working in Finland
- the place where the work will be done
- who in Finland ordered the work
You must take with you
- A valid passport featuring a photo that enables easy identification
- a valid residence permit or visa, if one is required (the need for a visa depends on the length of your stay and your nationality)
- your employment contract
If your employment contract does not describe the work to be done in Finland, your employer must write a report that includes the following information:- name of employee and name of employer
- what work you do in Finland
- the time period you will be working in Finland
- the place where the work will be done
- who in Finland ordered the work
- your right to work is stated in your residence permit
The Tax Administration checks your right to work in Finland. If you do not have a residence permit that includes the right to work, you need to request it from the Finnish Immigration Service.
Read more on work rights and residence permits on the Finnish Immigration Service website.
In order to get a personal ID you will have to visit a tax office in person. Personal IDs can only be issued at certain tax offices. See the list of tax offices where a foreign citizen can get a Finnish personal ID.
If you are going to stay longer than a year, you can get the right to be registered in a Finnish municipality of domicile. The Finnish Digital Agency will look into your case from the perspective of the legal requirements in order to ascertain whether a Finnish municipality should be included in the data records as your municipality of domicile.
More information on permanent residency (The Finnish Digital Agency)
Employers can request their workers’ tax numbers
Submit information in Ilmoitin.fi
Send a file containing your workers’ personal IDs to the Tax Administration in the Ilmoitin.fi e-service.
Ask that the workers are entered into the construction industry’s or the shipbuilding industry’s tax number register.
The tax numbers are entered in the public register automatically if you request tax numbers for at least 20 workers.
You can also send us a tax number request if you already have your workers’ tax numbers but you want them entered in the tax number register.
Submit the information as a file in Ilmoitin.fi following the data format specification: employer’s tax number requests.
Register tax numbers in MyTax
As an employer, you can also register tax numbers in MyTax with your worker’s tax number or their personal ID. You will receive a notification of registration after you have submitted the registration request.
If the workers have been registered with their personal IDs, you will get back the registered individuals’ tax numbers.
Other methods
You can also register a tax number by calling our service number +358 29 497 070 (standard call rates) or by visiting a Tax Administration office.
If your construction site will have foreign individuals who need a Finnish personal ID and a tax number, they must visit a tax office in person. If there are more than 5 of them, you must make an appointment.
Students and teachers also need a tax number if they visit a construction site or a shipyard. The tax number can be shown on the student/teacher ID provided by the educational institution, in which case the student/teacher card can also work as an ID badge.
Educational institutions can request the registration of students
The educational institution can
- make a list of students who need a tax number
- ask for them to be entered into the public register of tax numbers
The list must include the name, personal ID and signature of each student.
The document must also specify the member of staff at the educational institution who has been authorised to apply for the issuing and registration of tax numbers on students’ behalf. This enables the Tax Administration to send confirmation of the tax numbers to the right person.
You can see your tax number on your tax card or in MyTax. After login, select the Communication tab, then click Taxpayer details and Tax number.