Tax debt in Finland: how a payment plan (maksujärjestely) works
If your business cannot pay a tax by its due date, you can ask the Tax Administration (Verohallinto) for a payment plan (maksujärjestely) in MyTax (OmaVero). A plan runs for up to two years in 1 to 24 monthly instalments of at least 20 euros, and while it is in force the debt is not sent to enforcement or published. It does not stop the interest: late-payment interest runs at 9.5 % a year in 2026 from the day after the original due date. Ask on the due date, not after the reminder.
Who can get a payment plan
The Tax Collection Act (veronkantolaki, VKL) section 43 allows a plan when the ability to pay has fallen temporarily, for example because of weakened liquidity. The Tax Administration's own conditions for a business are that:
- the financial difficulty is temporary, not long-term
- any earlier payment plan was paid in full
- every return is filed, including the earnings payment reports and employer's separate reports to the Incomes Register (tulorekisteri)
- no unpaid tax is in enforcement (ulosotto), and the enforcement authority has not found the company to be without means
- the company is not in a restructuring that would leave taxes unpaid
A request can still be refused if an arrangement is not feasible when all the circumstances are weighed. If returns are missing, file them first; our article on catching up with bookkeeping sets out the order.
Before you ask
If you need only about a month more, you can wait for the reminder and pay by the extended due date it gives, though interest runs all the same. For self-assessed taxes such as VAT and employer contributions, file the return first and wait until the tax shows in MyTax: VAT usually appears within a day or two. A late return costs more than a late payment, as our article on late VAT returns shows, so file on time even when you cannot pay.
How to ask in MyTax
- Log in to MyTax, open the Tax matters (Veroasiat) tab and choose Request for payment arrangement (Maksujärjestelypyyntö) under Making payments (Maksaminen).
- Check the taxes included. The plan takes in everything overdue and the taxes falling due in the next 45 days.
- Choose the number of instalments, from 1 to 24 a month apart. The first due date can be at most 30 days after the request.
- Check the schedule and the contact person's details, and send.
If you cannot use MyTax, call 029 497 028 (standard call rates). An official may call you. The Tax Administration says it handles a request in about a week, and some are approved automatically, taking effect the day after the request. It can ask for a larger first instalment.
Once accepted, the schedule cannot be changed, and you can have only one plan at a time. The plan and its instructions appear in MyTax under Communication, Decisions and letters.
What it costs
| Item | In 2026 |
|---|---|
| Late-payment interest (viivästyskorko) | 9.5 % a year |
| How it is set | reference rate + 7 points |
| In the company's income tax | not deductible |
The interest is the reference rate of the Interest Act plus seven percentage points (Act on Tax Increases and Late-Payment Interest 1556/1995, section 5 a), and it is neither taxable income nor a deductible expense (section 10). A plan does not change the amount: interest runs from the day after each tax's original due date until it is paid. Paying more or earlier shortens the plan and cuts the interest. An interest-free plan is possible only for very weighty reasons of fairness (VKL 43 §).
A rough example: 6 000 euros of VAT paid in 12 equal monthly instalments carries about 300 euros of interest over the year.
While the plan is in force
- No enforcement. The Tax Administration does not send the taxes in the plan to enforcement.
- No publication. The debt is not shown in the tax debt register (verovelkarekisteri) or sent to the public payment default list. Without a plan, the register shows a business with tax debt of at least 10 000 euros, and unpaid VAT, withholding and employer contributions totalling at least 15 000 euros can be sent to the default list. An existing register entry is removed when a plan covers the debt.
- Prepayment register. The company is not removed from the prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri) during the plan.
- Refunds. Tax refunds are not paid out; they go to the plan, which may end it early.
Keeping the plan alive
Pay each instalment with the plan's own reference number, from your online bank or MyTax: e-invoices cannot be used. Pay every new tax in full on its due date, and file every return on time. A plan ends automatically if an instalment is missed, a new tax debt appears or a return is not filed. You can ask for a restart within 10 days, after paying what is overdue and putting right what was missing; the Tax Administration says it handles that in about two business days.
If the problem is a prepayment set too high, change the prepayment as well, so the next instalments do not add new debt.
If the difficulty is not temporary
A plan is for a temporary gap. The Tax Administration points entrepreneurs to free, confidential financial advice from the Yrittäjän talousapu service, run by the KEHA Centre. When the debt cannot be paid within two years, the questions are about restructuring or closing the business, and they need advice of their own.
What we do
For our clients we keep the books current, so the tax for each period is known before it falls due, and when cash is short we help you file on time and prepare the payment plan request. A limited company costs 199 euros a month up to 240 000 euros of turnover and 249 euros above; a sole trader from 69 euros a month; payroll 15 euros per payslip; all plus VAT 25.5 %, with software and the year-end included and no limit on receipts. We are based in Helsinki and work online across Finland. See limited company accounting or sole trader accounting.
Sources
- Tax Administration: requesting a payment arrangement (businesses)
- Tax Administration: cancellation and restart of a payment arrangement
- Tax Administration: financial difficulties (businesses)
- Tax Administration: tax debt register
- Tax Administration: public disclosure of tax debt information
- Tax Administration: interest on late payments
- Tax Administration: decision on the procedure in payment arrangements, VH/5925/00.01.00/2022 (in Finnish)
- Finlex: Tax Collection Act 11/2018, sections 14 and 43 (in Finnish)
- Finlex: Act on Tax Increases and Late-Payment Interest 1556/1995, sections 5 a and 10 (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.
Choosing an accountant?
Our prices are public: from 69 € a month for a sole trader and from 199 € for a limited company, plus VAT, with the software and the year-end included. See pricing and services.
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