Novice Finance Question

[biswajit.sharma]

Hi,
We are in the process of moving to Finland.

I have a question - any funds/savings accumulated abroad - if we transfer them to Finland along with our move, will it be considered an income in Finland?
In order words - will it be subject to Fresh Taxation in Finland.

Source of Funds is only Salaries.

I have been trying to look for this information, but couldn't find - any pointers would be greatly helpful.

~Biswa

[betelgeuse]

I have a question - any funds/savings accumulated abroad - if we transfer them to Finland along with our move, will it be considered an income in Finland?
In order words - will it be subject to Fresh Taxation in Finland.

It will not.

[quillcentaur]

No it's not taxable.
Also, if you're moving money to a Finland bank account, I recommend using Transferwise instead of using your bank directly. Banks hide fees using awful exchange rate.

You can use my Transferwise referral code so you get your free transfer for free: https://transferwise.com/u/jennylynb

Have used it a lot of times with no problems.

[betelgeuse]

However, do note that, if you liquidate any assets while you are liable for tax in Finland, then normal rules about capital gains etc apply.

[agroot]

No. Income is only taxable *AFTER* you come here, and sending yourself money isn't income.

I found transferwise and similar services having much higher fee though. From local bank (where there are multi-currency deposits) I do local currency to euro then euro to euro here, only need to pay around fixed $40 per transaction. While exchange is not free it's nowhere as high. Euro is a bit bad but US from/to local is like 0.3% (I suppose it might be much better if dollar account can be opened here).

[biswajit.sharma]

Thank you all for your clarification!

[quillcentaur]

No. Income is only taxable *AFTER* you come here, and sending yourself money isn't income.

I found transferwise and similar services having much higher fee though. From local bank (where there are multi-currency deposits) I do local currency to euro then euro to euro here, only need to pay around fixed $40 per transaction. While exchange is not free it's nowhere as high. Euro is a bit bad but US from/to local is like 0.3% (I suppose it might be much better if dollar account can be opened here).

It depends I guess. At least with my bank and many other people's experience, banks hide their fees in bad exchange rates. Transferwise has always been the best for me and a lot of travellers. You might be one of the few lucky people whose bank actually use a good exchange rate.

[tavastia]

You can try also https://secure.xendpay.com, pretty low transfer fees, 2-3€ for 2-300€. If you transfer within SEPA then shall be free, at least if you send from Finland.

[biswajit.sharma]

Thank you everyone for your response and tips.