Employment relationship

Taxes and tax numbers

The Tax Administration is the authority in Finland which is responsible for taxation. If you arrive in Finland to work, the most important single factor affecting your tax treatment is the duration of your stay. Another important factor is the tax residency of your employer — is your employer considered a Finnish employer or a foreign employer.

The worker is responsible for the validity of the taxation, you will find more information on the website of the Tax Administration.

Persons working at construction sites and shipyards must carry a personal ID

Everyone working at a construction site or a shipyard must wear a visible photo ID when at the site.

The builder supervising the shared construction site, the main contractor, other employer in the role of principal contractor and the employer of the employees concerned are responsible for ensuring that this obligation is met.

From 1 July 2022, these obligations will apply to the employer exercising the main authority in the shipyard area when a person is working in the shipyard area. The employer’s obligations also apply to the employer whose employees work in the shipyard area.

However, persons making occasional deliveries to a construction site or a shipyard area do not need to have a photo ID. Likewise, photo IDs are not required at a construction site where a building or its part is being built or repaired for the personal use of a private individual acting as the builder. In addition, these IDs are not required for a crew member of the vessel employed by the vessel’s contractor or the company operating the vessel, who works in the shipyard area in tasks related to the commissioning of the vessel.

The photo ID must show:

whether the person in question is an employee or an independent contractor
if an independent contractor, the photo ID must show the name of their company
name and photo of the employee
name of the employer (wage payer), and
the tax number entered in the tax number register.

Workers’ tax numbers must be listed in the Finnish Tax Administration’s public tax number register. In other words, the number on the photo ID is not a tax number if it is not registered in the tax administration database.

More information for shipyard operators can be found in the recording of the tax number webinar

In the tax number webinar for shipyard operators, representatives of the occupational safety and health authorities and the Finnish Tax Administration provide information about the extension of the tax number procedure to shipyards and answer questions from the participants. The event is held in Finnish. Recordings and presentation material of the event can be found at page Webinar: Information about tax number for shipyard operators.

More information on the website of the Tax Administration: Individual tax numbers and the public tax number register.