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The EC Sales List in Finland (yhteenvetoilmoitus): who files, deadlines and corrections

Karma Accounts · Published 24 October 2026

A business registered for VAT in Finland files the EC Sales List (yhteenvetoilmoitus, officially the EU VAT recapitulative statement) for every calendar month in which it sold goods VAT-free to a business in another EU country, moved its own goods to another EU country, acted as the middle party in triangulation, or sold services that the buyer reverse charges in its own EU country. It gives each buyer's VAT number and monthly total, and is filed in MyTax (OmaVero) by the 20th of the following month: the October 2026 list by Friday 20 November, the November list by Monday 21 December 2026. Apart from a middle party's triangulation sale, the same sales also go on the VAT return.

What goes on the list

Goods count only if the buyer, a business in another EU country, has given you a non-Finnish EU VAT number and the goods are transported from Finland to another EU country (AVL 72 b §). Own goods moved abroad are reported under your VAT number in the destination country, valued without VAT at the purchase price or a lower probable selling price, the import VAT base for goods you imported, or the production cost of goods you made. Goods sent for work and returned, or taken abroad temporarily to perform a service, are not transfers (AVL 18 b §). In triangulation the first seller reports an ordinary sale of goods; the final buyer reports only its purchase, on its VAT return. For services, see selling services abroad.

What is not reported

• Services under special place-of-supply rules: services connected to real estate, passenger transport, short-term hire of a means of transport, admission to physical events (virtual events have followed the general rule since 2025), restaurant and catering, and travel agency services. Taxed abroad, they are "Turnover taxable at zero VAT rate" on the VAT return.
• Services exempt from VAT in the buyer's country. On the VAT return they are zero-rated turnover only if the sale would give a right to deduct in Finland (AVL 131 §).
• Sales to consumers: see e-commerce VAT and the OSS.
• Goods sold to a buyer without a valid EU VAT number. They are not intra-Community supplies and, unless another rule applies, carry Finnish VAT.
• Your purchases from other EU countries, and credit losses.
• Transfers to a call-off stock for a known buyer, when the call-off conditions are met. A separate monthly call-off report, due the same day, covers transfers, returns and a change of buyer; the sale goes on the list when the buyer takes the goods. Goods the buyer has not taken within 12 months become a transfer of own goods. From 2027 the rule covers only transfers made by 30 June 2028.

The buyer's VAT number and VIES

Check the buyer's VAT number in VIES before the first invoice and regularly after, by number, not name; if it is invalid, ask for another.

On the list, the country code (DE, SE) goes in its own field and the number follows without it or any punctuation. A German number is DE and nine digits; a Swedish one SE and twelve characters, always ending in "01".

Filing the list properly is a condition of the exemption, though minor slips such as careless errors do not remove it (AVL 72 a §).

Which month a sale belongs to

Goods belong to the month after delivery, or to the delivery month if you issued the invoice to the buyer in that month. An advance invoice does not move the sale earlier. The VAT return uses the same rule (AVL 138 a §).

Services belong to the month they are performed; an advance payment belongs to the month you received it. A continuous service, such as a rental, belongs to the end month of each payment period, and one lasting over a year without settlements is reported each December until it ends.

Discounts and credit notes go on the list for the month in which they are booked, with a minus sign if a buyer's total turns negative.

Deadlines and filing

The list is due on the 20th of the following month (AVL 162 §), or the next business day if that is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.

The list is monthly even with a quarterly or annual VAT period. The VAT return has its own deadlines: a monthly October 2026 return is due on Monday 14 December 2026.

File in MyTax under Tax matters > Self-assessed taxes > Tax returns on self-assessed taxes > EU VAT recapitulative statement, or through Ilmoitin.fi or the API; paper only for a special reason. A foreign company files the same way, through its representative or an authorised accountant (VAT returns for foreign companies). One outside the VAT register that makes VAT-free intra-Community supplies from Finland must register at least for the notification duty and file returns and lists.

Nothing to report, no list. The Tax Administration's file specification says a company with no EU sales to report for a month files no list for it. A credit note or other adjustment to an earlier EU sale still needs one (AVL 162 §). A business in the VAT register files a VAT return for every period.

Matching the VAT return

The list's monthly goods and services totals should equal the two EU sales lines on that month's VAT return, except for triangulation, which is on the list only. When you correct the list, correct the VAT return too if its figures were also wrong.

Corrections and the late fee

File a replacement list for the same month, changing only the wrong buyer lines:

• Wrong VAT number: zero that line and add one with the right number.
• Goods buyer had no valid VAT number: zero that buyer's sales and file a replacement VAT return showing a domestic sale; see correcting a VAT return. For services, other proof can still show the buyer is a business.
• Wrong month: correct the wrong month (zero if there were no sales) and report the sale for the right one.
• Wrong amount or a sale left out: resubmit that buyer's line with the full correct totals; add a new line only if the buyer was missing altogether.

A correction carries no penalty. A late or missing list costs a negligence penalty (laiminlyöntimaksu) of 100 euros up to 45 days late and 200 euros after that, and the Tax Administration can order you to file. A penalty can be appealed in writing to the Board of Adjustment within 60 days of being notified of the decision.

A worked example: a German and a Swedish buyer

October 2026 for a company with a monthly VAT period:

1. Machine parts shipped to a German buyer and invoiced on 8 October: 12 000 euros plus 300 euros freight.
2. Consulting for the German buyer in October: 2 000 euros.
3. Software development for a Swedish buyer in October: 4 500 euros.
4. Goods shipped to the Swedish buyer on 27 October, invoiced on 3 November: 5 000 euros.
5. Construction work on the Swedish buyer's building in Stockholm: 3 000 euros.

The October list, due Friday 20 November 2026:

The October VAT return, due Monday 14 December 2026, shows 12 300 euros of goods and 6 500 euros (2 000 + 4 500) of services sold to other EU Member States. The Stockholm work is a real estate service taxed in Sweden: 3 000 euros of zero-rated turnover, not on the list. The 5 000 euros of goods were invoiced after the delivery month, so they go on the November list (due Monday 21 December 2026) and the November return.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to file an EC Sales List if I had no EU sales?

No, unless you have a credit note or other adjustment to report. The VAT return is still due for every period.

Do services go on the EC Sales List in Finland?

Yes, general-rule services to a business in another EU country that pays the VAT there under reverse charge. Real estate services, admission to physical events, passenger transport and other special-rule services do not.

What is the penalty for a late recapitulative statement?

100 euros up to 45 days late, 200 euros after that. Corrections carry no penalty.

Will the EC Sales List be abolished?

Yes. Under ViDA it ends when e-invoicing and transaction-based reporting start for cross-border EU trade on 1 July 2030; see e-invoicing.

What we do

Karma Accounts files EC Sales Lists and VAT returns for businesses with EU customers, including foreign companies registered for VAT in Finland, in English or Finnish. See our Finnish VAT services for foreign companies, or tell us your sales and periods through the quote request form.

Sources

• Tax Administration: VAT EU recapitulative statement, how to complete and submit it
• Tax Administration: instructions for completing the VAT return
• Tax Administration: when to file and pay VAT
• Tax Administration: VAT recapitulative statement (VSRALVYV) data file specification 1.4, sections 2 and 4 (PDF)
• Tax Administration: checking the VAT number
• Tax Administration: VAT numbers issued by different EU countries
• European Commission: VIES VAT number validation
• Tax Administration: VAT on cross-border supply and acquisition of services, detailed guidance, sections 3 and 9
• Tax Administration: VAT in EU goods trade, detailed guidance, sections 5.3, 5.4, 7, 9 and 12 (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: transfer of goods to call-off stocks, instructions
• Tax Administration: penalties in self-assessed taxation, detailed guidance, section 6 (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: ViDA, the legislative package modernising VAT
• Finlex: Value Added Tax Act 1501/1993, sections 18 a–18 c, 72 a, 72 b, 131, 138 a, 162, 163 and 168 (in Finnish)

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.

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