Info required on VAT Application

[Rosamunda]

Are you thinking of establishing a toiminimi or a limited company (Oy)?
1.
I know that with an Oy, for example, you can register your line of business in the Finnish Trade Register as "general commercial activities" which includes just about everything (with the possible exception of activities regarding a special permit eg taxi driver, travel agent etc). So you can regroup all your business under a single "Oy". You can also register auxiliary business names to identify separate activities under one business if you wish (note: there is a small fee for registering an auxiliary name). Your Y-tunnus is always the same as your VAT number. So, even if you have multiple auxiliary names you still have one VAT registration number and only one set bookkeeping and accounts.

2. Vero doesn't calculate your VAT. You do.

3. I would say yes, if you have two separate limited companies (Oy) with completely separate bookkeeping and separate bank accounts etc. But if Vero thinks you are using this to avoid tax they will hassle you. I imagine some entrepreneurs do register multiple Oys to exploit this advantage and I assume Vero is ultra vigilant (it's pretty easy to track down).

I'm not sure about a toiminimi though. I would imagine that as a physical person you can only have ONE toiminimi (not sure though) but I don't see why you can't run multiple activities under that one business name (same as for an Oy). However, your activities would be treated as one business for tax purposes.
I suggest you call the Vero help line and ask them what the best solution would be for you. http://www.infopankki.fi/en-GB/into/

[tjawatts]

Toiminimi are not separate legal entity, it is you personally just acting as a company. Therefore you cannot register 2 separate toiminimi as far as I know. You can register different names for your toiminimi (apu-toiminimi) if you want to distinguish between them. Tax wise however it will be treated as one business.

T

[Rosamunda]

Yes, that's what I was thinking too.