What happens if I start work without a verokortti?

Your employer must withhold 60% of your gross wages until you provide a valid tax card. This is not a fine — the excess is credited against your annual tax and refunded later — but it can leave you with barely a third of your pay during your first months. Order your tax card before, or immediately after, starting work and make sure your employer has it roughly two weeks before payday.

How do I apply for a verokortti if I don't have Finnish online banking yet?

You have three routes. If you have no Finnish e-identification at all, you can use the Finnish Authenticator app (you register a foreigner's identifier and verify yourself with a selfie and a passport photo) to log in to MyTax. You can also call the Tax Administration's English service line on 029 497 050, or visit a tax office in person with your passport and henkilötunnus (personal identity code). Many employers can also receive your withholding details electronically once you have ordered the card.

Can I update my tax card mid-year?

Yes, at any time and as often as you need. If you get a raise, change jobs, take a second job, start a large deduction, or receive an unexpected bonus, request a revised card (muutosverokortti) in MyTax. The new rate replaces the old one for future pay; nothing is back-dated.

Does my employer receive the tax card directly?

Usually, yes. Many Finnish employers receive your tax-card data electronically straight from the Tax Administration, so you may not have to hand over anything. Always confirm with your payroll team, because some smaller employers still ask you to upload or email a copy from MyTax.

When does the tax card apply from?

Tax cards from 2025 onwards take effect on 1 January of the tax year and carry a single income ceiling covering the whole 12 months. The card for the coming year appears in MyTax in late November to early December. If you order a card mid-year, it is valid immediately, and its income ceiling reflects the income you still expect to earn in the rest of the year.

Getting a Finnish Tax Card (Verokortti): Step-by-Step Guide

Q: Do I need a separate tax number to work in Finland?

Only for construction sites and shipyards. Anyone working there must have an individual tax number (veronumero) printed on a photo ID worn on site — this is separate from the tax card. You need a henkilötunnus first, then add your tax number to the public tax number register yourself in MyTax (your site supervisor or employer can also enter it for you). Allow a few days before your first shift. For ordinary office, IT, or service jobs, the verokortti alone is enough.

The verokortti tells your Finnish employer how much tax to withhold. Without one they deduct 60%. How to order yours via OmaVero, even without a bank ID.

The verokortti (tax card) is the document that tells your Finnish employer exactly what percentage of your wages to withhold as income tax. It is one of the very first things you need when starting work in Finland — alongside your henkilötunnus (personal identity code) and a bank account. Get it right and your withholding is roughly correct from your first payslip. Get it wrong, or skip it, and your employer has no legal choice but to withhold a flat 60% of your gross pay until you sort it out. That 60% is not a penalty and you do get it back, but waiting twelve months for the refund while paying Helsinki rent is exactly the kind of avoidable cash-flow shock that catches newcomers out. This guide explains what the card is, how to order it through OmaVero (MyTax) — including if you have no Finnish bank ID yet — and the edge cases that trip people up.

What the Verokortti Actually Is

Your tax card is not a physical card you carry around. It is a calculation, held in the Tax Administration's system and visible to you in MyTax, that sets two numbers:

Withholding rate (pidätysprosentti) — the percentage your employer deducts from each payslip before paying you.
Income ceiling (tuloraja) — the total amount of wage income the main rate applies to. Earn beyond it and a higher additional rate (lisäprosentti) kicks in on the excess.

Both figures are calculated by the Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) from your estimated annual income and the deductions you report. The word "estimated" matters: the accuracy of your card is only as good as the numbers you give it. A wildly low estimate means too little tax now and a bill next year; a high estimate means you overpay and wait for a refund.

Since 2025, the model changed in a way that simplifies life for new arrivals: a tax card now carries a single income ceiling for the whole calendar year rather than separate monthly and annual ceilings. The card for the coming year takes effect on 1 January and appears in MyTax in late November to early December (for 2026 it was delivered to MyTax between 22 November and 6 December 2025). If you still receive paper post, it arrives by the end of December.

Why 60% Is Not Something to "Deal With Later"

The 60% default exists to discourage undeclared work, not to punish you. The over-withheld amount is credited toward your final tax and refunded — but potentially more than a year after you earned it. For someone juggling a deposit, first month's rent, furniture, and setup costs in an expensive country, losing nearly two-thirds of each paycheck for even a month or two is a serious problem. Treat the verokortti as a day-one task, not an admin chore for the weekend after.

There is a related trap on the employer side: even if your card is ready, your employer needs the details roughly two weeks before your next payday to apply them in time. Ordering on the morning of payday does not help that month's pay run. Order early.

How to Apply Through OmaVero (MyTax)

OmaVero is the Tax Administration's online self-service portal, available in Finnish and Swedish at vero.fi, with an English-language version branded MyTax that covers the functions a wage earner needs.

What You Need to Log In

MyTax uses Finland's strong electronic identification. You can log in with any of:

Finnish online banking codes (pankkitunnukset) — the most common route, available once you have a Finnish bank account. Note that only personal online banking codes work, not business ones.
Mobile certificate (mobiilivarmenne) — an identifier built into your phone's SIM, offered by Finnish mobile operators.
Certificate card — a Finnish ID card carrying a citizen certificate, read with a card reader.

If You Have No Finnish E-Identification Yet

This is the classic chicken-and-egg problem: you need a bank account to get banking codes, but you may not have one in your first weeks. You are not stuck. As of 2026 you have several options — check the current details on the official pages, but the routes are:

Finnish Authenticator app — Finland's identification app specifically for foreigners who do not have a Finnish identification token. You register a foreigner's unique identifier (UID) and verify yourself by submitting a selfie and a photo of your passport or ID. Once active, it lets you log in to MyTax and other Suomi.fi services. This is the route most new non-EU arrivals take before their bank IDs are live.
Phone — call the Tax Administration's English-language service line on 029 497 050 and a tax officer can help you order the card.
In person — visit a tax office (service point) with your passport, your henkilötunnus, and details of your expected employment.

In all cases you generally need your henkilötunnus first. If you have not got that yet, start with our guide to the Finnish personal identity code — almost nothing in Finnish bureaucracy moves without it.

Step by Step in MyTax

Go to vero.fi and open MyTax / OmaVero.
Log in with banking codes, mobile certificate, or the Finnish Authenticator app.
Select "Tax card and prepayments" (Verokortti ja ennakkovero).
Choose "Request a new tax card" (Tilaa verokortti).
Enter your estimated annual income — see the next section for how to estimate it.
Enter your deductions — typically commuting costs above the threshold and any trade union or unemployment fund fees.
Review the calculated withholding rate and income ceiling.
Submit. Many employers then receive your data electronically; if not, download the card and send it to payroll.

How to Estimate Your Annual Income

This is the single most common place people get their card wrong, so the Tax Administration gives a simple rule for steady salaries: multiply your monthly gross wage by about 12.5, not 12. The extra half-month accounts for the Finnish holiday bonus (lomaraha), worth roughly half a month's pay, which is included in the income ceiling. The official example: a €2,000 monthly wage works out to €2,000 × 12.5 = €25,000 a year.

A few adjustments:

Part-time or hourly work — multiply your hourly rate by your estimated monthly hours, then by 12.
Two jobs — your card now has one income ceiling covering all your wage income. Each employer applies the additional rate once its own payments push you past the ceiling, so when you have multiple payers, watch the running total and adjust the card if needed.
Mid-year start — estimate only the income you will actually earn between now and 31 December.

Over-estimate slightly rather than under-estimate if you are unsure: a small refund next autumn is more comfortable than a back-tax bill.

Deductions That Lower Your Rate

When you order the card you can report deductions that reduce the income your rate is based on. The most relevant for employees are:

Commuting expenses above the annual self-paid threshold, if your daily journey to work is long or costly.
Trade union and unemployment fund fees, if you are a member.
Other work-related expenses the Tax Administration accepts.

More complex deductions — such as the household expenses credit — are claimed through the fuller application rather than the quick tax-card request, or on your annual return. Reporting genuine deductions up front means a lower withholding rate today instead of waiting for a refund.

Understanding Your Withholding Rate

Finnish income tax combines a progressive state (national) tax with a municipal tax that varies by where you live, plus social contributions. Your personal rate therefore depends on your income, your municipality, your deductions, and any other income — which is why the only authoritative number is the one MyTax calculates for you.

For a sense of scale, the Tax Administration publishes example effective tax rates for 2026 for a single-income person aged 17–64 living in Helsinki and belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church:

Annual income (EUR)	Approx. effective tax rate (2026 example)
10,000	0.0%
20,000	1.5%
40,000	14.0%
70,000	25.0%

These are illustrative, not your rate — they exclude church tax for non-members and vary by municipality. On top of income tax, employees also pay pension and unemployment insurance contributions (in the Tax Administration's example, about 8.19% of pay), which is why your take-home is lower than the tax rate alone suggests. Always rely on the figure MyTax gives you, and confirm current numbers on vero.fi as of 2026.

Do You Also Need a Tax Number?

For most jobs, no — the verokortti is all you need. But if you will work on a construction site or at a shipyard, you must additionally have an individual tax number (veronumero), printed on a photo ID worn on site. The sequence is: get your henkilötunnus first, then add your tax number to the public tax number register — you can do this yourself in MyTax, or your site supervisor or employer can enter it for you. Allow a few days before your first shift so the badge can be checked against the register. This applies regardless of nationality and is separate from your tax card.

Updating Your Tax Card Mid-Year

If your real income drifts from your estimate, request a revised tax card (muutosverokortti) in MyTax — at any time, as often as you like, and it is free. Common triggers:

A pay rise or pay cut
Changing employer
Taking on a second job or side income
Starting or stopping a significant deduction
A larger-than-expected bonus

The revised rate applies to future pay only; nothing is back-dated, and there is no limit on how many times you can update. Updating promptly is the easiest way to avoid both a surprise bill and an interest-free loan to the state.

The Tax Year and Annual Return

Finland's tax year runs 1 January to 31 December. After the year ends, the Tax Administration pre-fills your tax return from employer and bank reports and makes it available in MyTax in spring (typically March–April). You check it, correct or add anything missing, and accept or amend it by the stated deadline (usually in May).

If you overpaid through the year, you receive a refund (veronpalautus) later in the year. If you underpaid, you get a back-tax demand (jäännösvero) with a due date. A well-estimated tax card keeps both of these small. For the wider picture of how Finnish taxation works, see our guide to the Finnish tax system explained, and for navigating the portal itself, our walkthrough of OmaVero and vero.fi for foreigners.

Common Problems and Fixes

"My first payslip withheld 60%." Your employer did not have a valid card in time. Order or re-send it now and ask payroll when the corrected rate applies — usually from the next pay run, since they need it about two weeks ahead.
"I can't log in to MyTax — no bank codes yet." Use the Finnish Authenticator app, call 029 497 050, or visit a tax office in person. Don't wait for a bank account that may take weeks.
"I got a back-tax bill." Your income estimate was too low, or a second job pushed you past the ceiling. Update your card so it doesn't repeat, and pay the bill by its due date.
"My employer says they didn't get my card." Many receive it electronically, but not all. Download the card from MyTax and send it to payroll directly, then confirm receipt.
"I have two jobs and one is taxing me at the additional rate." That is expected once a payer crosses your single annual ceiling. If the overall total is wrong, request a new card with a corrected estimate.

Sending Money Home

Finland does not tax outgoing personal bank transfers, so if you regularly send part of your salary abroad, the real cost is in exchange-rate margins and transfer fees rather than tax. Finnish banks' international transfers can carry wide FX spreads. Services such as Wise and Revolut quote the mid-market rate with transparent fees, which over a year of regular remittances can save a meaningful amount. Worth setting up once your Finnish account is live and your first proper paycheck has landed.

Where to Get Help

vero.fi (English): the Tax Administration's English section, with tax-card instructions and the rate calculator — vero.fi/en
MyTax / OmaVero: order and update your card, file your return — log in at vero.fi
Tax Administration English service line: 029 497 050 — help ordering a card if you can't log in
Finnish Authenticator app: identification for foreigners without a Finnish bank ID — suomi.fi instructions
InfoFinland — tax card: plain-language overview for newcomers — infofinland.fi
International House Helsinki: one-stop newcomer service point covering DVV, tax, and Kela in one place — ihhelsinki.fi

One concrete next step: if you don't yet have your henkilötunnus, sort that first — it unlocks the tax card, the bank account, and everything else. See our guide to the Finnish personal identity code.