Regulatory updates - Finland

The reform aims to reduce administrative burden through automation and interoperability between systems and central authority platforms. Data submitted once in machine-readable formats would be distributed to authorized public institutions that require the same information, minimizing duplicate submissions, risk for errors and compliance costs for businesses.

Next steps

The initiative will follow the timeline outlined below:

• September 2025: Conduct readiness assessments with financial management and invoicing software providers
• By April 2027: Anticipated submission of the reform proposal to Parliament
• By 2030: Targeted implementation of the centralized infrastructure

The reform is currently in its preliminary phase, with both legislative and technical requirements yet to be defined.

Stay tuned with Pagero to not miss out as Finland announces additional details on its future centralized infrastructure for digital reporting.

On 16 June 2023, the new government of Finland announced the outcome of the negotiations on the government programme named “A Strong and Committed Finland”.

The negotiations' outcome covers government policies on the economy, finance, tax, ownership, pensions, and investment programs. From the tax policy perspective, the government aims to:

• Improve household purchasing power by easing the taxation of work and different modes of transport,
• Improve incentives for work,
• Support economic growth and strengthen domestic ownership,
• Remove obstacles to posting foreign workers in Finland,
• Keep the corporation tax rate at a competitive level,
• Carry out a reform of property taxation to correct the differences between the properties' tax values and standard values.

The government intends to digitalize tax collection to ensure smooth flow and more predictable taxation.

On 19 January 2023, the Finnish Government (Valtioneuvosto Statsrådet) published a press release emphasizing that the government supports the modernization of value-added taxation in the digital age - ViDA initiative.

As per the announced statements in the release, the Finnish government accommodates the objectives of the ViDA proposals and the deployment of digital technology in the fight against tax fraud. They also consider the goal of simplifying the VAT system and reducing administrative costs for businesses. However, the authorities are awaiting further details of the proposals to better analyze the associated costs with the reform of the Tax Administration, companies, and especially SMEs.

Furthermore, the government submitted the letter U 103/2022 vp in the form of a Petition* to the parliament on the proposals of the ViDA initiative published on 8 December 2022.

The case status is still “in progress” and the letter is now being passed to the relevant key stakeholders for review. Although it’s currently unclear how and when Finland will implement ViDA, we are witnessing the first positive public reaction by an EU Member State.

* A petition is a formal written request sent to the Parliament by government members calling for some form of action.