Car taxation – when you buy or bring into Finland a car not earlier registered in Finland

According to a legislative amendment that came into force 1 January 2022, the rate of Finnish car tax for new passenger cars and vans fully powered by electricity or hydrogen is 0.  The zero tax rate applies to fully electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles entered into service on 1 October 2021 or later.   

We will perform a retroactive tax adjustment regarding car taxes for some 3,000 vehicles taxed during the period that started 1 Oct 2021 and ended 31 Dec 2021. The total aggregate refund to all taxpayers concerned is approximately 4 million euros.   

The Tax Administration processes the adjustment this spring. According to current plans, each taxed vehicle will be covered by end of June 2022.    

Most of the adjustments have to do with new motor vehicles. Accordingly, the party having the legal right to claim adjustments to paid taxes is the registered car tax filer, not the customer who has bought the electric/hydrogen vehicle. However, if you are a customer who has bought a new vehicle and the seller did not give you a discount (the zero-rated car tax), we recommend that you contact the seller about a possible refund; i.e. to enquire whether too much car tax had been charged when the vehicle was taxed.