To all who want to claim travelling expenses in Finland

 Among foreigners in Finland there is a lot of confusion around travelling expenses in taxation. Most of us know there is a possibility to save taxes but hardly anyone is aware of the full picture. Here is all you need to know.

The main types of travelling expenses in Finnish taxation:

• Travelling between home and workplace (“commuting”)
• Travelling expenses to secondary place of work
• Weekend trips home

Travelling expenses between home and workplace in Finland

More or less everybody incurs travelling expenses between home and workplace and can thus use this tax deduction. Tax authorities however only accept the cheapest possible way of travelling, i.e. usually public transport. This applies also if you actually used a car to get to work. So if you f.ex. live in Turku and commute to work in Uusikaupunki by car you will only be able to deduct the cost of the bus ticket. In the case that no public transport is available, you might be able to claim kilometer compensation (see conditions in detail).

Because of rising energy prices the kilometer compensation in 2022 has increased from 0,25€/km to 0,30€/km. Also, the maximum deduction for travelling expenses between home and workplace has been raised from 7 000€ to 8 400€ in 2022. Please note this affects basically only taxpayers not able to use public transport, forced to drive longer distances from home to work throughout the year (see conditions in detail).

Self-speaking tax authorities accept only costs for days you actually did commute to work. Accordingly you can only claim a maximum of 11 months’ travelling expenses in Finland per year as you don’t commute when on holiday.

Your own contribution for travelling costs between your home and your workplace is 750 €. In other words your annual travelling costs need to exceed that threshold to affect your taxes. In the capital region you basically need an ABC or BCD ticket during 11 months in order to be beyond the 750€ threshold.

Regarding 2020 you might be able to add certain costs for face masks to your travelling expenses, see the detail in this article.

Tax authorities warn that taxpayers should avoid reporting incorrect or unreasonable declarations. For example, if the taxpayer worked from home every second week, then the commuting expenses should only be claimed for those days. If, from the declarations, the authority concludes that the taxpayer has applied for an unjustified deduction, they may be ordered to pay extra tax. In addition, of course, they will also lose the right to the deduction. 

Travelling expenses to secondary place of work

Do you work for the same employer, but your places of work are situated in two or more municipalities? You can claim travel expenses to your secondary workplace unless your employer has paid for the trips. Please note that your employer does report such payments to tax authorities. 

Weekend trips home

If you spend nights in another municipality because of your work and go home every weekend you might deduct travelling costs. The allowed deductions depend on your family situation and on whether your job is permanent or not.