Monthly Expenses in Helsinki

kamalmaheshwari · Post by **kamalmaheshwari** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:56 pm

Hi,

I am planning to move to Helsinki soon. I have beed offered 1650 EUR per month plus furnished accomodation. I will also get my full India Salary (Around 1200 Euros). I wanted to check Is it a decent Offer?

1. How much will be the Grocery expenses for a month for a Family of Three.(Me, My Wife and a two year old kid)
2. How much will be the travelling expenses approx monthly?

Thanks
Kamal

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Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:34 pm

Well, 2850 alone (gross - relatively speaking the situation is better for you if not all of the income would be subject to Finnish taxation) would already be bit above the median wage here. True, most families have two parents working, but it is certainly very enough to live. I do not know what is your apartment like, but it seems safe to assume that it would be worth in minimum close to 1000€/month and could be significantly more than that (depending on size and location). Is that a 'decent' offer in Finnish standards then depends on what kind of job you would do (and what is a usual salary range for that specific job)

Grocery expenses depend so much on what you're used to, so I would not care to give an estimate. Public transport for regular commuting usage is fairly cheap - the exact price depends on if you cross city borders: http://www.hsl.fi/EN/ticketsandfares/Pages/default.aspx (one parent will travel free with a kid in a go-cart.)

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:36 pm

kamalmaheshwari wrote:Hi,

I am planning to move to Helsinki soon. I have beed offered 1650 EUR per month plus furnished accomodation. I will also get my full India Salary (Around 1200 Euros). I wanted to check Is it a decent Offer?

1. How much will be the Grocery expenses for a month for a Family of Three.(Me, My Wife and a two year old kid)
2. How much will be the travelling expenses approx monthly?

Thanks
Kamal

1) Depends entirely on where you shop, and what you eat. When you come here bring a years worth of garam masala and tea, both are > 5x the price you will pay in India.

Here are EU price tables for basic foodstuffs...
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal ... _WEB_0.pdf

If you eat seasonal vegetables the price can be quite reasonable, but if you want nice tomatoes in the middle of winter expect to pay €3+ / kg for Polish / Spanish tomatoes or €5+ / kg for domestic.

2) http://www.hsl.fi/EN/ticketsandfares/Pages/default.aspx

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:51 pm

Rip wrote:Well, 2850 alone (gross - relatively speaking the situation is better for you if not all of the income would be subject to Finnish taxation) would already be bit above the median wage here. True, most families have two parents working, but it is certainly very enough to live. I do not know what is your apartment like, but it seems safe to assume that it would be worth in minimum close to 1000€/month and could be significantly more than that (depending on size and location). Is that a 'decent' offer in Finnish standards then depends on what kind of job you would do (and what is a usual salary range for that specific job)

2850+apartment, so the wage would be closer to 4k... and taxed as such. And how on earth you think that part of the wage would not be subject to taxation?
http://www.vero.fi/?article=4169&domain ... nguage=ENG

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:15 pm

Upphew wrote: And how on earth you think that part of the wage would not be subject to taxation?
http://www.vero.fi/?article=4169&domain ... nguage=ENG

The emphasis of my post was on that fact that even if subject to full Finnish taxation the salary isn't too shabby - but not knowing the actual duration of stay or other details nor being lawyer versed in finer details of tax legislation (for example if your Finnish employer sends you to abroad, you can get good amount of 'travel expenses' (including per diem payments) as tax-free compensation) I did not want to make precise estimates on taxes due.

kamalmaheshwari · Post by **kamalmaheshwari** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:25 pm

My Employer is claiming that it is tax free for me. Actually I will get only euro 55/day (1650/month) in Finland plus furnished accomodation. And i will get my full india salary (close to euro 1200) in India, and it will be taxed in India.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:47 pm

kamalmaheshwari wrote:My Employer is claiming that it is tax free for me. Actually I will get only euro 55/day (1650/month) in Finland plus furnished accomodation. And i will get my full india salary (close to euro 1200) in India, and it will be taxed in India.

If you live in Finland and work in Finland and your family is in Finland, then you can be certain that Finnish tax authorities are interested in your money

Do they know your income in/from India? Dunno, but better to acknowledge the possibility.

http://finance.indiamart.com/taxation/taxtreaties.html
http://www.finlex.fi/fi/sopimukset/sops ... 4/19840059 This is the Finnis version of the tax treaty, but I have hard time with legalese, so maybe its better for you to find your version of it.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:26 pm

How long would you be staying? Lot of the legal rules regarding taxation depend on that.

kamalmaheshwari · Post by **kamalmaheshwari** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:39 am

I am going to be there for 12-18 months. But i guess the employer has to pay taxes on perdiem.

kamalmaheshwari · Post by **kamalmaheshwari** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:03 am

one parent is entitled to get free travel with a kid in a pram/stroller in all public transport. Whats the age of kid till which one parent is allowed to travel free.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:13 am

kamalmaheshwari wrote:I am going to be there for 12-18 months. But i guess the employer has to pay taxes on perdiem.

Typically you'd be expected to pay normal Finnish taxes here then. I'd make sure you have deal regarding the per diem with your employer that you get net of taxes what you expect. Your Indian salary, if the Finnish authorities would know about it, would be subject to Finnish taxation (most tax treaties though crediting for taxes you've already paid in India).

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:16 am

Sounds to me like your actual employer is an outsourcing company.... ie you won't be hired by a Finnish company at all but by some SW consulting firm which is then selling you on to a Finnish company. There have been posts on here before from people working in similar conditions.

You should ask your "employer" about healthcare and insurance. If you, your wife or your child fall ill or have an accident while you are here, who will pay the bills? You will probably NOT be entitled to Finnish welfare state (KELA). This means you need to take out private medical insurance for all your family.

If you are not officially resident in Finland then you will also have to pay more for your travel card and you may have difficulty obtaining other services (eg renting a phone)

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 10:16 am

kamalmaheshwari wrote: Whats the age of kid till which one parent is allowed to travel free.

Up to six years

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