Finland Taxes for UK Sailor Living in Helsinki

Edward26 · Post by **Edward26** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:46 pm

Hey,

I am a UK citizen who is planning on moving to Finland in September, I work offshore about 180days per year. I know I won't have to pay any UK taxes, but will I have to pay any Finish Taxes?

**Sponsor:**

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:01 pm

The magical word is the "about"... if you are 183 days "offshore" then you're not taxable. Now that 183 days I think needs to be continuous - not 2in/2out or somesuch... so in that case you need to claim in Finland - but "seamen" have a special tax deal - then again thats "seamen on Finnish ships". Add to that theres tax treaties, so it depends under which flag you get your salary... complicated?

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:45 pm

Yes, I don't think the travel into / out of Finland is counted in the 183 days. So the day(s) you leave and the day(s) you arrive don't count but that is the same in the UK too.

I agree with Pursuivant, you should call Vero and ask them directly:

http://www.tax.fi/en-US/Tax_Administrat ... nformation

http://www.tax.fi/en-US/Tax_Administrat ... 2819038%29

or email: http://www.infopankki.fi/into/

But tax isn't the only issue... you might need to figure out Kela and pension stuff etc too if you are domiciled in Finland. Yes, complicated if your employer isn't Finnish and you are not being paid in Finland... Not even sure quite how you would get a henkilötunnus...

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:04 pm

http://www.smu.fi/in_english/

Popeye · Post by **Popeye** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:12 am

Do you already know if you will be taxed in Finland?

In the Netherlands, you don't have to pay tax if you are away for more than 183 days a year and it doesn't matter how often you travel back and forth. Travel days are included in those 183 days so you start counting on the day you leave until the day you come back. And of course you have to pay tax in another country that has a tax agreement with the Netherlands. But it doesn't matter what the tax percentage is in that other country.

The link regarding the 183 days above from vero doesn't work/ has expired. Does anyone have a new one? I can't find it.

Happy sailing!

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:59 am

Try this one or just type "Working in Finland for an overseas employer" into the tax.fi search engine.

http://www.vero.fi/en-US/Precise_inform ... s__(21621)

http://www.tax.fi/en-US/Individuals/Arr ... plo(17156)

Hyperlinks to Vero pages just don't seem to work at all these days. No idea what the problem is though.
Try cut and pasting the links into google.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 10:46 am

Rosamunda wrote:Try this one or just type "Working in Finland for an overseas employer" into the tax.fi search engine.

http://www.vero.fi/en-US/Precise_inform ... s__(21621)

http://www.tax.fi/en-US/Individuals/Arr ... plo(17156)

Hyperlinks to Vero pages just don't seem to work at all these days. No idea what the problem is though.
Try cut and pasting the links into google.

phpBB doesn't like the trailing ) in links.

You don't pay county tax if you work offshore. Merityötulo was the keyword iirc.

Adrian42 · Post by **Adrian42** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:30 am

One thing seems to be missing in this whole discussion:

You will always have to pay taxes on your income in at least one country (some countries might have a tax rate of 0%, but that's a different story).

You cannot avoid paying any taxes at all by staying 4 months in Finland, 4 months in Sweden and 4 months in the UK. All these 6 months / 183 days rules are for determining where to pay taxes, especially according to tax treaties aiming at avoiding double taxation. They cannot be abused for not paying any taxes at all.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:39 am

Not if you want to have the cake and eat it too. As in having health care etc. But in principle, if the money is "good enough" and you can afford to pay your own healthcare, yes you can. Thats what the rich do.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:06 pm

Adrian42 wrote: You will always have to pay taxes on your income in at least one country

I'd say he main rules are that the country where you work wants you to pay taxes on that income and then country where you live most of the time may want to levy taxes on all your income (thought giving credit for the taxes already paid in the country of employment) - but then there are exceptions and exceptions to the exceptions.

Adrian42 · Post by **Adrian42** » Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:25 pm

Pursuivant wrote:Not if you want to have the cake and eat it too. As in having health care etc. But in principle, if the money is "good enough" and you can afford to pay your own healthcare, yes you can. Thats what the rich do.

No, they still have to pay taxes on their income in their country of residence, and they need to have a residence somewhere.

Moving their residence to a country like Monaco where no income tax exists is what the rich do.

Social security (e.g. healthcare) is a separate topic.

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