Finland’s contractors are organised and easy to pay: most invoice as a toiminimi (sole trader) or through their own Oy, others bill as light entrepreneurs through an invoicing service, and all of them are paid in euros to a SEPA account. Two Finnish specifics shape the relationship. Self-employed people carry their own mandatory YEL pension insurance, which is built into the rate they quote. And the line between contractor and employee is drawn by an overall assessment that the Supreme Administrative Court applied against Wolt in 2025. This guide covers the set-ups, the prepayment register, YEL, classification and the contract. The payment side is on our Finland payouts page. It is general information, not legal advice.
Toiminimi, Oy or light entrepreneurship
| Set-up | What it is | Cost to set up (2026) | Who you contract with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toiminimi | Sole trader with a business ID (Y-tunnus) | €75 start-up notification | The person trading under the business name |
| Oy | Limited company, no minimum share capital since 1 July 2019 | €300 guided online, €400 otherwise | The company |
| Light entrepreneur | No business ID; bills through an invoicing service (laskutuspalvelu) | Service fee charged by the invoicing company | The person, while the invoicing company bills you |
Fees from prh.fi; share capital rule from the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce (both checked 2026-09-29).
Toiminimi. Profit is taxed as the owner’s income. After a 5% entrepreneur deduction, a share equal to 20% of the business’s net assets is capital income taxed at 30% (34% above €30,000); the rest is earned income at progressive state and municipal rates (vm.fi, checked 2026-09-29).
Oy. The company pays 20% corporate income tax (vero.fi, checked 2026-09-29) and pays its owner salary or dividends. You contract with, and pay, the company.
Light entrepreneurship. The person has no Y-tunnus and uses an invoicing company (laskutuspalvelu). According to the Tax Administration, the person agrees the assignment and the fee with the client directly, the client pays the invoicing company, and the invoicing company pays the person, either as wages with tax withheld or as work compensation (vero.fi, VH/8201/00.01.00/2024, checked 2026-09-29). For VAT the invoicing company is the seller (vero.fi, VH/7320/00.01.00/2025, checked 2026-09-29). The guidance is explicit that the model is not for people employed by the client. For you it means two documents: the invoicing company’s invoice, and your own contract with the person.
VAT. The standard rate is 25.5% (vero.fi, checked 2026-09-29). A business registers once its Finnish turnover passes €20,000 a year, and sales whose place of supply is not Finland, such as B2B services to a client abroad, do not count toward that figure (Tax Administration guidance VH/1581/00.01.00/2024, checked 2026-09-29). An EU client receives an invoice without Finnish VAT marked “Reverse charge, Art. 44, VAT Directive” (vero.fi, checked 2026-09-29).
The prepayment register (ennakkoperintärekisteri)
The prepayment register tells a Finnish payer whether it may pay a business’s invoice as it stands. When the seller is not registered, the payer withholds 13% from a company, or the percentage on an individual’s tax card for non-wage income, 60% if no card is presented. Registration is checked free on ytj.fi, and for regular payments to one business the Tax Administration recommends checking at least four times a year, such as in March, June, September and December (vero.fi, updated 27 February 2026; check page, both checked 2026-09-29).
For a foreign client the register works differently. Finnish withholding falls on payers in Finland: the Tax Administration’s guidance says a foreign employer with no permanent establishment in Finland, not voluntarily registered as an employer, is not obligated to withhold even from wages (vero.fi, guidance of 29 January 2025, section 8.1, checked 2026-09-29). You pay the invoice gross. A dated ytj.fi check showing the contractor’s registration is still worth filing, because it records that you bought from a registered business.
YEL pension insurance
YEL is the earnings-related pension insurance of the self-employed. It is mandatory when the person is at least 18, has been self-employed for at least four months, and has confirmed work income (YEL income) of at least €9,423.09 a year in 2026. The contribution is 24.40% of that income for everyone, regardless of age; a first-time entrepreneur gets 22% off for the first 48 months, and YEL income is capped at €214,000 (varma.fi; varma.fi, checked 2026-09-29).
Light entrepreneurs are inside YEL too. An Oy’s owner in a leading position counts as self-employed when holding more than 30% of the shares alone, or more than 50% with family members (elo.fi, checked 2026-09-29). The contractor insures and pays, not you, but the cost is part of the rate they quote.
Requalification risk
The test. The Employment Contracts Act applies to work done personally for an employer, under its direction and supervision, for pay. Working from home or with one’s own tools does not by itself take a relationship outside the Act. Since 1 July 2023, unclear cases are decided by an overall assessment of the working conditions, the circumstances of the work, the parties’ intent on the nature of the relationship and their actual positions (Chapter 1, Section 1, as amended by Act 329/2023; finlex.fi, checked 2026-09-29). The label in the contract is one input, not the answer.
The Wolt ruling. In KHO:2025:41, decided on 22 May 2025, the Supreme Administrative Court held that Wolt’s couriers worked in an employment relationship. They stayed personally responsible for the work even when allowed to send a substitute with notice, and the app’s tracking and quality metrics, with the power to cut pay or end contracts, amounted to direction and supervision (kho.fi, checked 2026-09-29). On 19 March 2026 the court rejected Wolt’s application to annul the ruling (kho.fi, checked 2026-09-29). Decisions of the Finnish Centre for Pensions have treated courier work as employment too (etk.fi, checked 2026-09-29).
What is at stake. An employee is insured under TyEL, not YEL. The TyEL contribution in 2026 is 24.4% of pay, of which the employer pays about 17.10% and the employee 7.30% (etk.fi, checked 2026-09-29), on top of employment rights under the Act. A long, full-time engagement for one client, with your hours, your tools and your managers, is the profile to watch. See contractor misclassification.
Contract and IP
- A written services agreement with the contractor’s Y-tunnus (or, for a light entrepreneur, the person’s name and the invoicing company), deliverables, rate, currency and payment terms.
- Independence markers that match reality: the contractor’s own schedule and tools, the right to work for other clients, pricing per deliverable where possible. The overall assessment reads how the work is actually done.
- IP transfer with the rights spelled out. The Copyright Act allows copyright to be transferred in whole or in part (Section 27) and sets no form for it, but unless agreed the transferee may neither alter the work nor transfer the right on (Section 28). Section 40 b, which gives the employer the copyright in software made in employment, does not reach a contractor (finlex.fi, checked 2026-09-29). Put the transfer in writing anyway and name the right to modify, sublicense and assign.
Taxes and paperwork on the client’s side
Pay gross against invoices. US payers collect a W-8BEN (W-8BEN-E for an Oy) and file no 1099: work done in Finland is foreign-source income. The US–Finland treaty, signed in Helsinki on 21 September 1989 and in force since 30 December 1990, taxes independent personal services in the US only through a fixed base regularly available there (Article 14, irs.gov, checked 2026-09-29). EU payers check the FI VAT number in VIES where the contractor has one. Keep the contract, the ytj.fi check, invoices and proof of payment.
Contractor of Record in Finland
For long, single-client or full-time engagements, a Contractor of Record puts a contracting party between you and the contractor. 4dev acts as Contractor of Record — the contracting party for each contractor — which reduces reclassification risk. Other providers in our COR rating offer the same model; read the liability clause in the COR contract rather than the product name. If the role is a job in substance, with your hours, your tools and core work, hire through an EOR instead, which insures the person under TyEL.
How to pay contractors in Finland
Payment is the simple part: EUR by SEPA or SEPA Instant to the contractor’s IBAN, with no currency control, or through Wise or a payout platform when you pay from another currency. Since 9 October 2025 your bank compares the payee name with the account holder’s before a transfer, and continuing after a mismatch warning puts the responsibility on you (finanssiala.fi, checked 2026-09-29). For a light entrepreneur, the payee is the invoicing company. Rails, fees and a ranked list of platforms are on our page how to pay contractors in Finland.