Veronkantolaki

Chapter 1: General provisions.

This provision says the law applies to the procedure for paying, refunding, and collecting certain taxes and charges, and also to some taxes under specified other tax laws.

This section defines key terms used in the law, including tax, taxpayer, tax collection, tax debt collection, and refund.

The competent authority is the Tax Administration (Verohallinto).

Several listed taxes are collected together as one tax for the tax year.

Verot sekä palautukset ja muut suoritukset maksetaan Verohallinnon tilejä käyttäen valtion maksuliikepankeissa.

Verohallinto must keep tax-fund accounting that includes accrued and refunded taxes and other payments.

This section says the chapter applies to certain taxes and a neglect fee, but not to listed collection and withholding-related items.

Maksuja ja palautuksia käytetään verojen suoritukseksi tietyssä järjestyksessä, ja Verohallinto voi antaa tarkempia määräyksiä käyttöjärjestyksestä.

Tax payments and refunds must be applied to taxes in the order set here, with older items handled first and interest paid first for each tax.

At the taxpayer’s request, the Tax Administration may keep a refund to cover future payment obligations.

If no section 7 taxes remain unpaid, a payment or refund may be applied to other overdue Tax Administration receivables.

Goodwill interest is charged when a tax payment is used later than the payment date, and the State is responsible for it.

Palautukseen oikeuttavalle arvonlisäverolle lasketaan hyvityskorkoa määrätyltä ajalta. Jos palautettava määrä myöhemmin pienenee, liikaa palautetulle määrälle maksetaan viivästyskorkoa.

Verovelvollisella on oikeus saada säännöllisesti tiedot tiettyjen verojen käytöstä, suorittamatta olevista veroista, maksukehotuksesta ja tietyistä päätöksistä.

Tax summary information is served to the taxpayer electronically, with postal delivery in some cases.

Verohallinto must correct certain tax-assessment errors promptly after noticing them, unless the case has already been resolved on appeal or section 34 says otherwise.

An error under section 16 may be corrected within three years from the end of the calendar year tied to the summary entry. It may also be corrected later if the correction request reached the Tax Administration in time.

Taxes covered by this law are paid to financial institutions, and the payer must cover the payment costs and give the information needed to identify the payment.

Tax that has been assessed must be paid by the due date set at assessment. Other self-assessed tax must be paid on the payment date set by law or regulation.

Tax is treated as paid on the date it is debited from the payer’s account, paid in cash to a financial institution or prescribed tax-payment location, or—if that date is not provided—booked to the Tax Administration’s account.

If tax is paid after the payment date or due date, late-payment consequences are governed by another law.

Some banks and other payment institutions must transfer received tax funds to the Finnish Tax Administration account within the stated time limits.

Valtiovarainministeriön asetuksella voidaan säätää verojen kanto- ja maksuajat tai eräpäivät sekä kantoerien lukumäärä ja eräjaon perusteet, ellei muu laki toisin määrää. Verohallinto voi antaa tarkempia määräyksiä maksamisessa noudatettavasta menettelystä.

Maksaja voi kohdistaa maksun tiettyihin veroihin ja Verohallinto voi tietyissä tilanteissa poiketa maksun käyttöjärjestyksestä.

Yksilöimätön veromaksu käytetään kuten 40 §:n mukainen palautus; jos maksua ei voida kohdistaa tai palauttaa puutteellisten tunnistetietojen vuoksi, se tuloutetaan valtiolle.

The Finnish Tax Administration may issue more detailed rules on the procedure for using a payment, or another amount treated as a tax payment, to pay a taxpayer’s tax.

The Tax Administration must pay refunds promptly once entitlement is checked, usually to the taxpayer’s notified bank account in euros.

If the taxpayer has failed a required notification duty or submitted a substantially incomplete report, the refund is paid only after the tax amount has been determined, except that the Tax Administration may pay all or part of it earlier in minor-defect cases.

Palautus maksetaan vain, jos palautettava määrä on vähintään 5 euroa, ja 7 §:ssä tarkoitettujen verojen osalta pienin palautettava yhteismäärä on 20 euroa.

Verohallinto must refund a paid amount if it was paid by mistake or unduly, and it may do so on its own initiative after giving the taxpayer a chance to explain if needed.

Interest on certain tax refunds is calculated at the annual reference rate minus 2 percentage points, but never below 0.5%.

A taxpayer may not transfer, in a way that binds the Tax Administration, their right to a refund to someone else.

If a refund was paid incorrectly, the Tax Administration must recover it, usually within three years, but it may waive recovery in limited cases.

Veronsaajien oikeudenvalvontayksikkö may request a stay or suspension of enforcement when appealing certain tax decisions, must notify the Tax Administration and the taxpayer within 7 days, and the Tax Administration must not refund tax until the appeal authority has decided the request.

The Ministry of Finance may regulate when advance refunds are paid, and the Tax Administration may issue detailed rules on refund-payment procedures, interest calculation, and electronic submission of certified notices and other documents.

Verohallinto must use refunds of at least five euros to pay unpaid taxes or other receivables, and in some listed cases it may also use smaller refunds.

A tax refund may be used to pay certain overdue public debts instead of being paid to the taxpayer, if requested before payment.

Refunds may not be used to pay certain debts, but they can still be used to satisfy the Tax Administration’s claim even if the refund recipient is bankrupt or the refund has been distrained.

Palautus käytetään Verohallinnon saataviin tietyssä järjestyksessä, ensin vanhentumispäivän ja tarvittaessa eräpäivän mukaan.

If a refund is used to pay a Tax Administration claim, refund or credit interest and late-payment consequences are calculated up to the payment date.

The Tax Administration must notify the taxpayer or liable person when a refund has been used to pay taxes, and the notice must include appeal instructions.

The Finnish Tax Administration may issue more detailed rules on the procedure for using refunds.

The Tax Administration may use several collection methods to recover taxes after assessing the taxpayer’s ability to pay and choosing an appropriate recovery method.

Verohallinto must send a demand notice before taking collection action on unpaid tax, unless there is a special reason to use the collection measures in section 44 without notice.

The Tax Administration may enter into a payment arrangement if the taxpayer’s ability to pay has been temporarily reduced for specified reasons or another special reason.

Kun Verohallinto on pyytänyt virka-apua veron perimiseksi ulkomailla, se saa tietyin edellytyksin suostua ulkomaisen valtion velkajärjestely- tai yrityssaneerausmenettelyyn.

Verohallinto may skip or pause tax collection when collection is unlikely to succeed or the expected result is small; it must start or resume collection when success can be expected.

Verohallinto may issue more detailed rules on tax collection procedure and enforcement measures.

Verohallinto may grant a tax or fee exemption on application, including related late-payment and other consequences, but not for advance income tax before the assessment year ends or for withholding tax on interest income.

A municipality may notify the Tax Administration about local decision-making authority for municipal and property tax matters, must notify before the three-year period starts, and the Tax Administration sets the timing of the notice by decision.

The Tax Administration may grant a full or partial exemption from tax, tax payments, tax increases, late-payment consequences, or other consequences, either on application or on its own initiative, if the listed conditions are met.

This section sets limitation periods for taxes, related costs, late self-assessed tax returns, and advances ordered under the Prepayment Tax Act.

Edellä 34 §:n nojalla määrätty takaisin perittävä palautus vanhentuu viiden vuoden kuluttua eräpäivää seuraavan vuoden alusta.

Palautukset, maksut ja niille maksettava korko vanhentuvat tässä pykälässä säädetyissä määräajoissa; Verohallinto voi erityisestä syystä palauttaa vanhentuneen palautuksen tai maksun pyynnöstä.

Several parties are liable for tax under this law as if it were their own tax.

The Tax Administration may order the taxpayer and other liable persons to pay the tax jointly, and it must give the liable person a chance to explain and issue a separate decision if no liability entry was made.

Verohallinto may transfer tax advances or other tax funds to a foreign state under an international agreement, and may issue more detailed rules on the transfer procedure.

Certain listed tax funds may be transferred to a foreign state.

If a refund apparently results from applying a tax recovery agreement or tax treaty, it must be reported to the relevant foreign authority and payment must be deferred as required by the agreement.

Tax-related funds may be transferred only if specified treaty conditions are met, including that the funds have not already been used to pay the taxpayer’s taxes in Finland and can be used for taxes in another contracting state.

A taxpayer is entitled to a refund of a tax or tax prepayment transferred from a foreign state to Finland if it has not been used to pay the taxpayer’s taxes or unpaid amounts.

Certain taxpayers and the tax recipients’ legal monitoring unit may seek rectification of a decision by filing a written claim with the tax adjustment board.

The taxable person, the person liable for tax, and the Tax Recipients’ Legal Protection Unit may appeal a decision on a claim for rectification to the administrative court with the relevant local jurisdiction.

A regional administrative court decision may be appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court only if it grants leave to appeal.

Certain tax-related parties may appeal a tax adjustment board decision directly to the Supreme Administrative Court if leave to appeal is granted.

Appeals and corrections for a responsibility order follow the rules that apply to tax corrections and tax appeals; a responsibility decision under section 57(2) is appealed under sections 63–65.

If an appeal decision removes or reduces tax, the Tax Administration must refund the overpaid tax with interest; if it increases tax, the Tax Administration must collect the unpaid tax with interest.

For matters within the Tax Administration’s remit under this Act, the appeal provisions in the Act on Enforcement of Taxes and Fees do not apply.

The tax covered by this law must be paid even if an appeal has been filed.

Small tax amounts under 10 euros are not collected or recovered; amounts under 20 euros are also left uncollected if a separate tax decision would otherwise need to be sent.

Verohallinto voi jättää myöhästymismaksun perimättä kokonaan tai osittain tietyissä viivästystilanteissa.

A decision under this law must state the deciding authority’s contact details, the taxpayer’s identifying details, the reasons, and how the matter was resolved. Reasons may be omitted if they are obviously unnecessary.

If a tax payment or refund due date falls on a public holiday, May Day, Saturday, or a day when bank payment systems are not in use, payment may be made on the next business day.

A decision or other document under this Act must be served on the taxpayer; if the matter concerns a liable person referred to in section 56, service must be made on that person.

This provision says the law enters into force on 1 January 2017 and repeals the Veronkantolaki (609/2005).

This section sets transition rules and commencement dates for the law.