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Small acquisitions in Finland (pienhankinnat): can you expense a laptop in 2026?

Karma Accounts · Published 20 October 2026

Yes: in Finland a laptop, phone, office chair or tool that costs at most 1 200 euros can be deducted in full in the year it is taken into use, instead of being depreciated. This is a small acquisition (pienhankinta), and a business can deduct up to 3 600 euros of them in one tax year. The rule is in section 33 of the Business Income Tax Act (elinkeinoverolaki, EVL), it applies to sole traders and limited companies alike, and the limits are unchanged for 2026.

The limits in 2026

The 1 200 and 3 600 euro limits have applied since tax year 2021. Before that they were 850 and 2 500 euros, which is why older pages still quote 2 500. The consolidated Act on Finlex shows no later change to section 33, and the government's bill HE 151/2026, which proposes an 18 % company tax rate from 2027, does not touch it. It is a proposal, not yet law.

What counts as a small acquisition

The rule covers movable fixed assets that wear out (irtain kuluva käyttöomaisuus): things bought for lasting use in the business, not for resale. An item that will last three years or less can instead be deducted under the short-lived rule below, which has no cap. The Tax Administration's examples are a mobile phone, a tool, a computer and a cash register: a business that buys a phone for 295 euros, a computer for 795 euros and a cash register for 500 euros can deduct all 1 590 euros at once.

Not small acquisitions:

• buildings, depreciated by building type (EVL 34 §): at most 4 % a year for ordinary residential and office buildings, 7 % for shops, warehouses and factories, and other rates for other categories
• land and securities, such as shares in a housing company that hold your office, which are not depreciated at all
• stock for resale, which is not a fixed asset

A set counts as one. If several assets together form a fixed whole (kiinteä kokonaisuus), the 1 200 euro limit applies to the whole, not to each part (EVL 33 § 2 mom.). Splitting one acquisition into separately priced parts does not bring it under the limit.

How VAT affects the cost

The 1 200 euros is compared with the acquisition cost: the price plus direct costs of acquiring the item, such as delivery and installation (EVL 14 §), plus any VAT you cannot deduct. VAT that you can deduct is not part of the cost. The Accounting Board's guidance on booking VAT says a fixed asset whose VAT has been deducted goes into the accounts net of that VAT, and that VAT you cannot deduct is booked as part of the cost. The Tax Administration's guidance says acquisition cost is in principle defined in the same way for the books and for tax.

Being in the VAT register is not enough on its own: the comparison without VAT assumes a full right to deduct the purchase VAT. If an item is used partly for something that gives no right to deduct VAT, such as private use, only part of the VAT is deductible and the rest is added to the cost. That does not make the private-use share deductible in income tax. Our VAT guide and the article on the VAT registration limit explain when you are in the register.

Examples: laptop, phone, office chair, tool

For a VAT-registered business with full right to deduct the VAT, prices without VAT, each item expected to last more than three years:

The first four come to 2 550 euros, within the 3 600 euro cap.

Short-lived assets: any price

The same section lets a business deduct in full any movable asset whose probable economic life is at most three years, whatever it costs (EVL 33 § 1 mom. 1 kohta). The 3 600 euro cap applies only to small acquisitions, not to these. Whether an asset really lasts three years or less depends on the asset and how it is used, so keep a note of why you think so. Like a small acquisition, this is a choice the business makes, not an obligation.

Above the limit: the 25 % pool

An asset that costs more than 1 200 euros and lasts longer than three years goes into the pool of machinery and equipment, the menojäännös, which is depreciated at up to 25 % a year (EVL 30 §). The full 25 % is available for the year the asset is taken into use, whatever month that happens. The temporary 50 % rate for new machinery covered tax years 2020 to 2025 and cannot be used for 2026.

In our reading of the Act, small acquisitions beyond the 3 600 euro cap are also depreciated through the pool, because section 33 is an exception to section 30 and the cap limits the exception.

An example. In 2026 a company takes into use three laptops at 1 100 euros each and the 1 500 euro printer, with no earlier pool.

• The laptops are small acquisitions: 3 300 euros, deducted in full in 2026.
• The printer's probable life is more than three years, so it goes into the pool: at most 25 %, 375 euros, in 2026, leaving 1 125 euros. A printer expected to last three years or less could instead be deducted at once as a short-lived asset.
• A pool of 1 200 euros or less can be written off at once (EVL 30 §), so if nothing else is added, the remaining 1 125 euros can be deducted in 2027.

If an asset deducted as a small acquisition is later sold, the price is taxable income in the year it is received (EVL 33 § 4 mom.).

Sole trader (toiminimi) or Oy

The rule and the limits are the same for both, because both are taxed under the Business Income Tax Act. The differences are practical:

• Toiminimi: report small acquisitions in your business tax return under "Other deductible expenses" (Muut vähennyskelpoiset kulut), in OmaVero's Expenses step. If you also use the item privately, only the business share is deductible. If you are a professional practitioner (ammatinharjoittaja) on cash-basis books, fixed asset costs still follow the rules above, but the Tax Administration says minor amounts may follow the payment date (EVL 27 a, 19 and 22 §); check the timing with your accountant. See also deductions a sole trader often misses, the home office deduction for 2026 and whether your car belongs in the business or stays private.
• Oy: the deduction flows from the books into the company tax return, Form 6B. Assets used by an owner privately raise questions of their own, so agree them with your accountant first.

In the bookkeeping

The tax rule does not by itself decide the accounting. Under the Accounting Act, an asset expected to bring income over several years is normally capitalised and written off by plan (KPL 5:5); expensing a small item at once in the books rests on accounting practice and materiality. The tax deduction is tied to the books: depreciation deducted in tax may not exceed what the business has deducted in its accounts in the tax year and earlier years (EVL 54 §). So an item you want to deduct at once as a small acquisition is booked as an expense in the same year; in practice, small items are booked straight to an expense account.

A typical voucher for the 1 490 euro laptop, VAT-registered business (account numbers vary between charts):

An item over the limit goes to a balance-sheet account such as 1160 Machinery and equipment, and the year's depreciation is booked to an expense account such as 6870 Depreciation of machinery and equipment. Keep the invoice or receipt as the voucher; our article on receipts and record keeping covers what a valid voucher needs.

Buying before 31 December

The deduction belongs to the tax year in which the asset is taken into use. A limited company's tax year is the financial year or years ending in the calendar year, so it does not always end on 31 December. The Tax Administration's guidance says ordering, delivery, invoicing or installation alone is not taking into use. So a laptop that arrives in January belongs to next year, even if it was invoiced in December.

If the business genuinely needs the item, taking a qualifying item into business use before the tax year ends can bring the deduction forward by a year. It does not make the purchase free: a limited company's income tax is 20 % of taxable profit in 2026 (TVL 124 §), so a 1 000 euro deductible expense saves 200 euros of 2026 tax if there is enough taxable profit, and still costs 800. The year-end steps show where this fits in the closing.

What we do

We go through the year's purchases, sort out what is a small acquisition, a short-lived asset or a pool item, book them, and report them in the tax return. Our limited company accounting is 199 euros a month up to 240 000 euros of turnover and 249 euros up to 500 000 euros, with a written quote above that. Sole trader accounting is 69 euros a month. All prices are plus VAT 25.5 % and include the year-end, the VAT returns and the software, with no limit on receipts. See the price list or request a quote.

Frequently asked questions

Can I expense a laptop in Finland?

Yes, if it costs at most 1 200 euros, without VAT if you have a full right to deduct the VAT, and your small acquisitions for the year stay within 3 600 euros. A dearer laptop goes into the 25 % pool, unless its probable economic life is three years or less.

What are small acquisitions in Finland?

Movable fixed assets that wear out and cost at most 1 200 euros each, such as a phone, a computer or a tool. They can be deducted in full in the year they are taken into use, up to 3 600 euros a year (EVL 33 §).

What is the small acquisition limit in Finland in 2026?

1 200 euros per item and 3 600 euros a year, as since 2021. The older 850 and 2 500 euro limits no longer apply.

Is the 1 200 euro limit with or without VAT?

Without VAT, if the business has a full right to deduct the VAT on the purchase. A business outside the VAT register counts the price with VAT, because the VAT is part of its cost.

Sources

• Finlex: Business Income Tax Act 360/1968, sections 14, 19, 22, 27 a, 30, 33, 34 and 54, consolidated to 24.4.2026 (in Finnish)
• Finlex: Accounting Act 1336/1997, chapter 5 section 5 (in Finnish)
• Finlex: Income Tax Act 1535/1992, section 124 (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: acquisitions and depreciation, limited companies (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: depreciation and small acquisitions, sole traders (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: detailed guidance, depreciation in business taxation, 3.9.2025 (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: detailed guidance, increased depreciation of machinery in tax years 2020–2025 (in Finnish)
• Tax Administration: deducting VAT on purchases (in Finnish)
• Accounting Board: general guidance on booking VAT, 31.10.2017, copy on Edilex (in Finnish)
• Government proposal HE 195/2020 (in Finnish)
• Government proposal HE 151/2026 (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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