Taxation mistake in my favour

[Philosopher]

Hello everybody,

I have a question regarding personal income taxation. Last month I received the tax decision for 2014 and was surprised to see that I owed significantly less than I expected. Of course I did not question Vero's calculation and was happy to have some extra cash, which my girlfriend and I invested immediately in a short Christmas vacation.

Today, however, I received a letter from Vero informing me that they did a calculation error in my favour. The correction of that error will result in a higher amount (similar to what I expected) to be paid. Of course mistakes can happen, but I must admit that I am bit irritated. We probably would not have spent that money if we had known that we need it to pay taxes in December.

Can the tax administration simply change its earlier decision? Was it foolish of me to assume that the Verotuspäätös is final?

I would be interested in your opinions.

[Piet]

Your case is pretty rare for Finland standards, mostly the tax office will calculate in their own favour and you have to correct that yourself by requesting a recalculation.

I never had such a situation, but I can remember from my previous residential country that if you do not correct mistakes from the Tax office, you could even be liable to a fee on top of what you owe them just for not checking.

So my advise with all taxes would always be... recalculate yourself (check what Tax office used to calculate your Tax and then correct if needed), you might get back more than they calculated (most cases) and there will be less inconvenient surprises.

[betelgeuse]

Today, however, I received a letter from Vero informing me that they did a calculation error in my favour. The correction of that error will result in a higher amount (similar to what I expected) to be paid. Of course mistakes can happen, but I must admit that I am bit irritated. We probably would not have spent that money if we had known that we need it to pay taxes in December.

Can the tax administration simply change its earlier decision? Was it foolish of me to assume that the Verotuspäätös is final?

The tax assessment process for the previous year ends up at the end of October:

https://www.vero.fi/en-US/Individuals/T ... 5484)#loka

Definitely before end of October you should not take your money for granted without checking it. During this period they will be actively correcting errors.

https://www.vero.fi/fi-FI/Henkiloasiakk ... tte(10865)

Depending on the type of error, they can correct your taxation one, two or five years later (for 2014 taxation calculated from beginning of 2016).

[hychamaz]

Hello Philosopher,
I agree with you. I have had so many Kela decisions, Unemployment decisions, housing decisions, social office decisions, kids social office decisions, etc etc. Changed when put to their superiors... But that is getting away from my point lol.
-They can make a mistake and demand money back.. But if you are not making enough then they will work out a plan with you...