Transfer tax on shares in Finland 2026: 1.5 %, who pays, deadline

Karma Accounts · Published 2 November 2026

Transfer tax (varainsiirtovero) on shares in a Finnish limited company is 1.5 % of the purchase price and anything else the buyer gives for the shares. The buyer files the return in MyTax (OmaVero) and pays the tax within two months of signing the deed of sale. This covers unlisted shares: buying out a co-founder, buying a company as a share deal, or a parent company buying a subsidiary. Housing and real estate company shares are also taxed at 1.5 %, on a wider base.

Transfer tax rates on shares in 2026

The rates come from the Transfer Tax Act (varainsiirtoverolaki 931/1996). The current rates came in with an amendment in force from 1 January 2024 but apply to every contract signed on or after 12 October 2023.

What is bought	Tax	Base
Shares in an ordinary Oy	1.5 %	price and other consideration
Housing company or real estate company shares	1.5 %	price, other consideration and share of company loans
Real estate owned directly	3 %	price and other consideration
Listed shares bought through an investment firm	none, with conditions	—

Contracts made before 12 October 2023 used 1.6 % for ordinary shares and 2 % for housing and real estate company shares.

Who pays the transfer tax

The buyer. The Act puts the tax on the person or company that acquires the shares (VSVL 15 §). When there are several buyers, each files and pays the tax on their own share.

The seller, when the buyer is not tax resident in Finland. In a sale of ordinary Oy shares to a buyer, person or company, who is not tax resident in Finland, a Finnish-resident seller must collect the tax, file and pay it within two months and give the buyer a certificate, unless the buyer has paid it (16 §, 31 §). If neither party is tax resident in Finland, ordinary Oy shares are in most cases tax-free. Shares in housing and real estate companies, and in companies that mainly hold them, are taxed even then, and the non-resident buyer files and pays as usual.

The company paying a dividend in shares. Since 1 January 2025, an Oy that distributes shares it owns as a dividend or SVOP return pays the tax itself, 1.5 % of their fair value (15 § 5 mom). See paying a dividend from an Oy.

The company whose shares are sold. When a share transfer is entered in the company's share register, whoever reports it must show that the tax has been paid or collected. If the board records the new owner without that proof, the company is also liable for the tax (24 §). Ask for proof, such as the MyTax certificate, before you update the register.

What counts in the tax base

The base is the purchase price plus any other consideration (20 §). Beyond the cash price, it includes:

the seller's debts that the buyer takes over or pays, which count as part of the price
payments to third parties that are a condition of the deal and benefit the seller, directly or through another group company
a loan receivable from the company, or from another company in its group, bought together with the shares. Since 1 January 2024 such a loan counts as a security when the two sales form one deal and the payment for the loan benefits the seller of the shares, directly or indirectly (17 § 2 mom), so a loan a co-founder has made to the company and sells with the shares is taxed too
for housing and real estate companies, the share of the company's loans that the owner has a right or obligation to pay to the company (yhtiölainaosuus), whatever the deed says. This applies to housing companies, mutual real estate companies, companies that mainly own or manage real estate and companies that mainly hold such shares. The share of construction-time loans counts as well. None of this applies to ordinary trading companies.

Shares given to an Oy as a capital investment (apport) are taxed on their fair value. An earn-out (a price depending on later events) is reported and taxed too. Under contracts made from 1 January 2026, if it is fixed only after the original deadline, its tax is due within two months of being fixed (21 § 5 mom); otherwise the original deadline applies. A guaranteed minimum price is taxed straight away.

The deadline: two months from signing

File the return and pay the tax within two months of signing the deed of sale (21 §), whenever the price is paid. A binding deed of sale starts the two months even if it has conditions that are met only at closing. Only when the first document is a mere preliminary agreement and the actual deed is signed later do the two months run from that later signature.

If a real estate agent brokers the sale, the buyer pays the tax at signing and the agent files the return; for a new-build flat, the two months run from the transfer of ownership instead. If a securities dealer is a party or broker, the dealer collects the tax from the buyer and files and pays it by the 15th of the following month.

The period ends on the same date two months later: a deed signed on 16 November is due on 16 January. If the last day falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday, the return can be filed on the next working day (Act on the calculation of statutory time limits 150/1930, 5 §), and the Tax Administration charges no interest on a payment made that day.

How to file and pay transfer tax in MyTax

A limited company must file the transfer tax return electronically in MyTax. Individuals can use MyTax or paper form 6012.

In MyTax, open Tax matters and, under Transfer tax, choose File a transfer tax return.
Enter the date the deed of sale was signed, the asset types acquired under it and the type of contract.
Choose Add new property and enter the company whose shares you bought, the seller, and your share of the price and any other consideration. MyTax shows the tax and the due date.
Add attachments if MyTax asks for them, then submit.
Pay with Pay now, or in your online bank using your transfer tax reference number. A company should use its own transfer tax reference.

The certificate appears in MyTax about two working days after the return and the payment have arrived. A tax under 10 euros is not paid, but the return is still filed. Correct a mistake with a replacement return; to get back tax paid in error or too much, apply for a refund.

When no transfer tax is due

Listed shares traded on a regulated market, or on some trading facilities, for a fixed cash price with an investment firm involved. With a foreign broker that does not report to the Tax Administration, a Finnish-resident buyer must file a return within two months to keep the exemption. Buying listed shares directly from another person is taxable.
New shares in a share issue. Subscribing new shares is not a transfer, so there is no tax. See share issues in a Finnish Oy.
Gifts, inheritances and wills. In a part-gift sale, the tax is paid on the price actually paid.
Mergers and divisions that meet their conditions, for the shareholder's new shares in the receiving company; cash consideration is taxed.
Turning a toiminimi into an Oy in a tax-neutral change of form (toiminimi to Oy), and a business transfer (liiketoimintasiirto) under section 52 d of the Business Income Tax Act, each with its conditions. A return is still filed for the securities transferred; in a business transfer it carries the transfer agreement.
Shares in a foreign company, unless it mainly owns Finnish real estate, directly or indirectly (with conditions, see vero.fi).

Still taxed: a sale between companies in the same group (the Act has no group exemption), a share exchange (osakevaihto) and an apport of shares into a company.

Late transfer tax: interest and penalties

Late payment: interest (viivästyskorko) from the day after the due date until payment, 9.5 % a year in 2026.
Late return, filed within 60 days: a late-filing penalty of 50 euros for an individual or an estate and 100 euros for a company or other taxpayer.
Return more than 60 days late, missing or wrong: a tax increase, normally 10 % of the extra tax and 15–50 % for repeated neglect or obvious disregard of tax duties. If, on your own initiative and with the needed information, you file the return or correct it to increase the tax more than 60 days after the deadline, it is 2 %. The minimum is 75 euros for an individual or an estate and 150 euros for others (36 a §).

The 20 % increase for every started six-month period, up to 100 %, applies to late registration of title or lease rights to real estate, not to shares.

Worked example: buying out a co-founder's 30 %

Aino and Jussi own Northbit Oy, an IT consultancy. On Monday 16 November 2026, Aino signs a deed of sale buying Jussi's 30 % for 45 000 euros. Both live in Finland.

Item	Amount
Purchase price	45 000 €
Transfer tax 1.5 %	675 €
Aino's acquisition cost for a later sale	45 675 €

Two months from signing ends on Saturday 16 January 2027, so the deadline moves to Monday 18 January 2027. Aino files the return in MyTax and pays 675 euros by then. Northbit's board enters her as owner of the shares once she shows the certificate.

If Jussi had also lent Northbit 10 000 euros and Aino bought that loan from him at face value in the same deal, the base would be 55 000 euros and the tax 825 euros.

The seller's tax on the gain is a separate question: see the Tax Administration's page on selling shares. If the company is being wound up rather than sold, read closing a limited company.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay transfer tax when I buy shares in a Finnish Oy?

Yes, if the shares are unlisted and you or the seller is tax resident in Finland; for housing and real estate companies, even if neither is. The buyer pays 1.5 % of the price within two months of signing.

Is there transfer tax when a parent company buys shares in its subsidiary?

Yes. The law has no exemption for sales within a group. Only certain restructurings that meet their conditions, such as mergers, divisions, business transfers and changes of form, can be exempt.

Does subscribing new shares trigger transfer tax?

No. Subscribing new shares in a share issue is not a transfer. Transfer tax applies when existing shares change owner. If the company passes on its own shares that it already holds, check that case separately.

What we do

For the companies whose books we keep, we book share purchases, check the tax base and file the transfer tax return in MyTax. See limited company 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.

Your Oy's books and year-end

Bookkeeping, VAT, the financial statements and the tax return for 199 € a month plus VAT up to 240 000 € of turnover, 249 € up to 500 000 € and a written quote above that. See accounting for limited companies.

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