Closing a sole trader business in Finland: toiminimi checklist

Karma Accounts · Published 29 October 2026

To close a sole trader business (toiminimen lopettaminen) in Finland, file a termination notification in the YTJ service. It is free and removes the business from the Trade Register and the Tax Administration's VAT, prepayment and employer registers. Then you pay VAT on the assets you keep, file the last VAT return, tell your YEL provider, file Form 5 for the final year by 1 April of the next year and keep the records for at least six to ten years. Until you notify, the business is treated as still running.

Closing a toiminimi: the checklist

What	Where	When
Sell or take over what is left	your books	by the closing date
Check for business mortgages	PRH's Virre service	before you file
Termination notification (paper form Y6)	ytj.fi	as soon as you know the date
Tell your YEL pension provider	your pension provider	without delay
Last wages, if you have staff	Incomes Register	within 5 days of each payment
Last VAT return, with VAT on what you keep	MyTax	12th of the second month after the last period (registered to 31 December on a calendar year: end of February)
Check the prepayment	MyTax	when you close; additional prepayment by end of January
Business tax return 5 for the final year	MyTax	1 April of the next year
Keep the books	name the keeper in the notification	at least 10 and 6 years

The termination notification

File the termination notification (lopettamisilmoitus) online in YTJ with Suomi.fi identification, or on paper form Y6, which is slower. The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) charges nothing, and the notification reaches both PRH and the Tax Administration. If your toiminimi was never in the Trade Register, you can also report the end in MyTax.

Business mortgages. PRH cannot record the closure while a business mortgage (yrityskiinnitys) is registered on your assets: cancel it first, or have whoever acquires the business take it over.
Who keeps the records. Give the keeper's name and address in the notification (KPL 2:10).

Registration ends the name's protection, but not your debts: a sole trader stays personally liable for them.

The final VAT return

Skip this part if your toiminimi was never VAT-registered, for example because turnover stayed within the 20 000 euro limit. If it was, notify straight away, or stay registered while you sell off the business assets and notify at the latest when they are sold. If you registered voluntarily, or your sales do not exceed the limit, removal takes effect at the earliest on the day the notification arrives (AVL 174 §). If there is no VAT-liable activity in a month, give the last day of the previous month as the end date, or you owe one more return.

The last return and the VAT are due:

Monthly or quarterly period: on the 12th of the second month after the last period.
Calendar-year period ending mid-year: the 12th of the second month after the closing day.
Calendar-year period registered until 31 December: on the last day of February of the next year.

A deadline on a weekend or public holiday moves to the next working day; see VAT return deadlines.

VAT on stock and equipment you keep

What you still hold when the VAT liability ends is taxed as own use (oma käyttö), as if sold to yourself (AVL 21 § and 22 §):

Goods are taxed if their purchase gave a right to deduct VAT, or you made them in the VAT-liable business. Private property bought without that right is not taxed.
Services are taxed if bought with a right to deduct, or produced in the business where similar services are sold to outsiders.
The tax base for what you bought is the purchase price or a lower probable selling price; for what you made, the direct and indirect costs of producing it; always without VAT (AVL 74 § and 75 §). The rate is the item's own, 25.5 % for most goods.
Report it on the return for the last tax period, under tax on domestic sales by tax rate.

The probable selling price is what an outside buyer would pay. Assets sold after the VAT liability ends are sold without VAT. VAT on later purchases cannot be deducted, except costs of the closure that meet the normal conditions: they go on the last return, corrected if the amount is known only later.

On the payment basis, VAT on unpaid sales and the deduction on unpaid purchases go to the last month of activity (AVL 136 § and 142 §). EU special schemes such as OSS are closed separately in MyTax. The closing guidance does not say whether the 850 euro yearly allowance for minor own use applies to what is left.

Income tax on assets you take over

For income tax, every asset is sold or taken into private use in the final year.

Sold assets: the price is income; the undepreciated acquisition cost (poistamaton hankintameno) is deductible.
Assets taken over: the value is the original acquisition cost or a lower probable selling price (EVL 51 b §). Above the undepreciated cost, the difference is income; below it, a deduction.
An operating reserve (toimintavaraus) not yet released is taxed in the closing year.
Confirmed losses from earlier years can then also be deducted from capital income if the closure would otherwise leave them unused, within the ten-year period.

The final year's tax return and prepayment

File Form 5 for the year the business ended, reporting the closure on it, by 1 April of the next year. Common mistakes are in the sole trader tax return.

Prepayments do not stop on the closing day: compare them with the final year's profit and change them in MyTax. If they are still too low, request an additional prepayment from December with a January due date and pay it by then, or interest is added; see tax prepayment.

Keeping the records

The duty to keep the books outlives the business (KPL 2:10):

At least 10 years from the end of the financial year: any financial statements and management report, the ledgers, the chart of accounts and the list of books and materials.
At least 6 years from the end of the year the financial year ended: vouchers and other material.

YEL, employees and debts

YEL. Tell your pension provider without delay; it can end the insurance from the date the conditions stopped being met. See YEL in 2026.

Employees. The employer registration ends on your last pay day; report each payment to the Incomes Register within five days as usual.

Debts. Closing does not cancel them. For tax debt, see tax debt payment plan.

Closing or converting to an Oy

If the business is outgrowing the toiminimi, you can found a limited company, move the business into it and close the toiminimi at the same time. When the conditions of TVL 24 § are met, this causes no immediate income tax, except on an operating reserve. See turning a toiminimi into an Oy.

A worked example: closing on 31 December 2026

Mia's VAT-registered toiminimi has a quarterly VAT period. She stops on 31 December 2026, notifies in December with that end date and keeps:

Stock bought for 2 000 euros plus VAT (VAT deducted), probable selling price 3 400 euros without VAT, its cost not yet deducted.
A laptop, her only equipment, bought in 2025 for 1 600 euros plus VAT (VAT deducted), undepreciated cost 1 200 euros, probable selling price now 700 euros without VAT.

Item	VAT	Value taken over − undepreciated cost
Stock	2 000 × 25.5 % = 510.00	2 000 − 2 000 = 0
Laptop	700 × 25.5 % = 178.50	700 − 1 200 = − 500
Total	688.50	− 500

The 688.50 euros goes on the October–December 2026 return, due Friday 12 February 2027. With a calendar-year period it would be due Monday 1 March 2027, as 28 February is a Sunday.
Her 2026 business income falls by 500 euros.
31 January 2027 is a Sunday, so she requests and pays any additional prepayment by Friday 29 January.
She files Form 5 by Thursday 1 April 2027 and keeps the ledgers until the end of 2036, vouchers until the end of 2032.

Frequently asked questions

How do I close a toiminimi in Finland?

File a free termination notification in YTJ (paper form Y6), which reaches both PRH and the Tax Administration. Then file the last VAT return, tell your YEL provider and file Form 5 by 1 April of the next year.

Do I pay VAT when I close my toiminimi?

Yes, on goods and services you keep if their purchase gave a right to deduct VAT or you produced them in the business, usually on the purchase price or a lower probable selling price.

What happens to toiminimi debts after closing?

They stay yours: a sole trader is personally liable for business debts.

What we do

We do the final bookkeeping for closing sole traders: the closing entries, VAT on what you keep, the last VAT return and Form 5, with the notification filed at the right point. See sole trader accounting or request a quote.

Sources

Please note: this is general information about Finnish rules, not advice for your own situation, and the rules change. Ask us before you act on it.

Accounting for your toiminimi

Bookkeeping, VAT returns and the business tax return from 69 € a month plus VAT, with no limit on receipts. See accounting for sole traders or accounting for food couriers.

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